One report on Wednesday suggested Arizona associate head coach Joe Pasternack is a “serious” candidate for the Cal Santa Barbara head coaching position.
Another development on Twitter today mentioned Pasternack is “hammering out details” for that job:
Sources tell me that Joe Pasternack is on verge of becoming head coach of UCSB Basketball. Hammering out details today.
— Mike Klan (@KEYTNC3Mike) March 31, 2017
If Pasternack is hired by the Gauchos, as is expected, he will become the fourth assistant under Sean Miller to land a head coaching job. The others:
— James Whitford, Ball State
— Archie Miller, Dayton and now Indiana
— Damon Stoudamire, Pacific
The Gauchos are trying to fill the vacancy left when Bob Williams’ contract was not extended. He coached at UCSB for 18 seasons. The Gauchos finished 6-22 this season.
Pasternack was hired by Miller in 2011 after he was previously the head coach at New Orleans from 2007-10. He has served as Arizona’s associate head coach since 2013.
Pasternack’s six years under Miller were marked by his recruiting, especially for West coast prospects, and his X’s and O’s. He often came out of his seat and yelled instructions to players by Miller’s side during games.
With the Final Four happening this weekend in Phoenix, Miller might already be at work talking to a potential replacement for Pasternack.
Mark Phelps, who has coached under Miller the last two seasons at Arizona, will likely fill the associate head coaching role inasmuch as he was a head coach at Drake from 2009-13.
Top recruiter Book Richardson has served the longest with Miller — all eight seasons at Arizona and the previous two at Xavier. He is responsible for bringing in most of the East coast talent that has played for the Wildcats, including Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Rawle Alkins and Kevin Parrom.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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