Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner fielded a question about recruiting the transfer portal at Wednesday’s ACC Tipoff media event in Charlotte, N.C.
Pastner took the opportunity to sell the virtues of his employer, the institute’s connection with NASA, acknowledge four people attending the news conference and mention his baby. In his answer of more than 550 words and 35 sentences, he also managed to answer the question.
It was par for the course for Pastner, whose meanderings during news conferences are the usual. Last year, for example, he redirected a postgame question about former Yellow Jackets guard Michael Devoe to bring up Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente.
So it was Wednesday. Pastner’s complete response:
“You know, when we’re looking in the portal, we’re constantly trying to find the right fit. Georgia Tech is one of the elite academic schools in the world. I think it’s the only FBS school to play football in Division I that does not have a bachelor of arts; everything is a bachelor of science. To be a student, to be a student-athlete, it’s incredible. It’s amazing.
“It’s a science, math and technology school, and to be able to do what these young men do and the rest of the students, it’s remarkable. There’s very few online classes, if any, at Georgia Tech, and so by the time we get them for practice, they’ve had a full day.
“But look, a lot of the people that graduate from Georgia Tech are – they build the airplanes and build the bridges, so you want them to learn in the classroom, not online building those things.
“That’s what’s so great about the school. Fourteen people went to outer space that are Georgia Tech grads. They found water on Mars from Georgia Tech. That’s what’s amazing about this school. It’s incredible. It’s a real honor to be able to be coaching there.
“By the way, does everyone know Mike Stamus? Mike Stamus is my guy back there, our SID. He’s been in the trenches at Georgia Tech for 30, 40 years. He’s a legend there at Georgia Tech. I wanted to give him his due.
“I’ve got to give (ACC senior associate commissioner for men’s basketball) Paul Brazeau his due, the good-looking man in the front row. Of course, I love you, too, Trip (Durham, the news conference moderator), but I’ve talked to Paul a bunch. (Tuesday) there was a story in the Commercial Appeal (of Memphis, Tenn.) because Dan Wolken, when I first got the job at Georgia Tech (note: Pastner apparently meant the University of Memphis), Dan was the beat writer for the University of Memphis men’s basketball. Fourteen years later, I am still the head coach, and here I am right across the way from Dan.
“But in the picture in the Commercial Appeal (Tuesday), I told these guys this, there was a look-back 10 years ago. In fact, I thought Dan actually wrote the article. I was holding my cellphone, it was a flip phone at the time, I had two kids at the time, holding a baby.
“That was 10 years ago (Wednesday). Time flies, 10 years later, I told these guys, I’m still on the phone holding a baby. I just had my fourth kid 11 months ago. So nothing changes.
“I say all of that to say Georgia Tech is awesome. What an incredible school. I know I’m on a little tangent, but for these guys to go to school at Georgia Tech, play athletics, the school is amazing. It is an amazing academic institution, and when you get – when you’re looking in the portal, I know I’ve gone a little off line, but when you’re looking in the portal, you’ve got to have the right fit.
“And the right fit is it’s a special, special place academically and it’s a real honor to be around these young men and to see what they – when Kyle (Sturdivant) shows me his homework and it’s like the math class these guys are in, it looks like alien spacecraft. It’s unbelievable. But these guys, that’s just the power of these young men here. They’re really, really special.”
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