UA men's basketball assistant coach Josh Pastner will not be leaving his post with the Wildcats this offseason, following last night's announcement that Houston has gone elsewhere to fill its head coaching vacancy.
The Houston, Texas, native said he was intrigued by the opening at the former college basketball powerhouse in his hometown, but that he's not at all disappointed with being passed up for former Texas coach Tom Penders.
"It's not disappointing at all - 99.9 percent of the people in this profession would give their right arm to be in this position," Pastner said of his current post at Arizona. "The assistant job here is terrific. I'm 26 and I keep learning and learning and learning, which I want to keep doing. I wouldn't mind staying here for good."
Pastner said he appreciated the consideration by Houston athletic director Dave Maggard, who flew out to Tucson recently for an interview.
Pastner, who first joined the UA coaching staff in 2000 as a graduate assistant coach, said he doesn't consider himself in the running for any other openings this offseason.
"Nothing this year," he said. "The only job I was even considering was Houston because I'm from Houston and obviously I believe I could get a lot of kids down there and turn the program around."
Pastner added that he has no idea what his future holds - or if he'll be considered for any head coaching jobs next season - but that it would take an extremely good offer for him to consider leaving Arizona.
"I'm not just going to jump at just any job. It would have to be awesome, equal or better than the assistant job here," he said.
In the meantime, Pastner said he is prepared to help the Wildcats erase the bitter memories of a 20-10 season that saw them bow out in the NCAA Tournament's first round for the first time since 1999.
"It's a stinging feeling inside. We want to keep the sick feeling right inside, right in our minds, right on the tip of our tongue so we win a national championship in 2005 in St. Louis. That's my goal," he said.
He did say, however, that he thinks fellow UA assistant Rodney Tention should garner a hard look from San Francisco, which is looking to fill a head coaching vacancy this offseason. Tention, a 1988 USF graduate, has been rumored to be on the school's short list of potential candidates.
"He's a terrific coach. He's a great game preparation guy, a great recruiter and great with the players," Pastner said. "He would be a great coach for them if that's what he wants to do."
Tention works primarily with Arizona's perimeter players. Since his arrival at the UA in 1997, he has been instrumental in developing NBA stars Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Gilbert Arenas, each of whom participated in a Final Four while at the UA.
Pastner, whose duties include recruiting and working with Arizona's post players, was promoted to his current position after former UA assistant Jay John took the head post at Oregon State. He completed his second season assisting head coach Lute Olson last week - Pastner spent one year as the team's video and recruiting coordinator - and has been with the program in some capacity since 1996, including four years as a player.