Josh Pastner
	Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: Arizona, 1998

After Year One of the Josh Pastner era, Tiger Nation was doing back-flips down Beale Street with what the 2009-10 University of Memphis basketball squad accomplished. Against overwhelming odds, Pastner guided that Tigers team to a 20-win campaign (24-10 record) and a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance.

Well, Year Two of the Pastner produced another 20-win season (25-10 record), a Conference USA Tournament crown and an NCAA Tournament appearance. So, how does Tiger Nation celebrate? Maybe juggle while doing back-flips down Beale Street?

Whatever Tigers fans do, they are also excited to know the future of their hoops program is in good hands with the Mar. 29, 2011, announcement of Pastner's contract extension through the 2015-16 season. Now, everyone has set their sights on 2011-12.

However, a quick look at what Pastner did in his first two seasons at the helm is quite remarkable:

• Led the Tigers to a 49-20 record, with the 49 victories the most wins by a Memphis head coach in his first two years
• Guided Memphis to the 2011 Conference USA Tournament title, the program's fifth league tourney crown in the last six seasons
• The 2011 C-USA Tournament title was the program's first league tournament championship won outside the Bluff City since 1987
• Directed the Tigers to the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the program's 23rd overall appearance in the "Big Dance"
• One of four head coaches in Memphis history to post 20-win campaigns in each of his first two seasons (joins Wayne Yates, Larry Finch and John Calipari in that group)
• One of three head coaches in school history to lead the Tigers to postseason appearances in each of his first two years (2011 NCAA; 2010 NIT); Wayne Yates and John Calipari were the other two head coaches to do so
• Led Memphis to double-digit wins in league play in both years (13 in 2009-10; 10 in 2010-11)
• Signed back-to-back, top-10 recruiting classes, including the nation's No. 1 class in 2010
• Rallied Tiger Nation to attend the consecutive, "close-the-doors" Memphis Madnesses in school history in the fall of 2009 and 2010, as record overflow crowds packed FedExForum to watch the Tigers tip off preseason drills

After stabilizing the Tigers' program in 2009-10, Pastner "one-upped" that year by coaching the youngest team in school history to the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11. Pastner entered 2010-11 with not only the school's youngest team, but also the seventh-youngest squad of 346 teams at the NCAA Division I level. In a year of ups-and-downs which Pastner predicted would happen, the young Tigers pulled it together with a memorable run in the Conference USA Tournament. Memphis defeated Southern Miss, East Carolina and UTEP to claim the C-USA Tournament crown, defeating the Miners on their homecourt with a thrilling, come-from-behind 67-66 win. The Tigers trailed 62-50 with 6:10 left in the game, but staged a 17-4 rally for the victory.

With the win, Memphis earned Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were awarded a No. 12 seed and met No. 5 seed Arizona in the second round. In a heart-stopping affair with the Wildcats, Memphis had its chances late, but dropped a narrow 77-75 decision. Despite the setback, Pastner's Tigers were the talk of the NCAA Tournament early rounds about the squad's effort and how the program's future looked bright.

And, hoops experts agree with that "future-is-bright" assessment, ranking the Tigers a consensus top-15 team in the early 2011-12 polls. But, Tiger Nation should have expected this success as soon as Pastner was hired when looking at his impressive résumé.

Before he took over the reins of the Tigers program, Pastner had already coached nine NBA Draft lottery picks. In only season as an assistant at Memphis, Pastner worked with Tyreke Evans. As an assistant at Arizona, Pastner helped develop the games of Jordan Hill, Channing Frye, Jarryd Bayless, Andre Iguodala, Richard Jefferson and Mike Bibby. Then, as the head coach of the Houston Hoops summer league team, Pastner mentored Emeka Okafor and T.J. Ford.

Pastner's impressive résumé, though, doesn't end there. He won an NCAA title as a player at Arizona (1997) and also made a trip to the NCAA championship game while on the Wildcats' staff (2001). As an assistant coach since 2003 (six years at Arizona, one year at Memphis), Pastner's teams advanced to four NCAA Sweet Sixteens and two NCAA Elite Eights. In fact, Pastner participated in the NCAA Tournament 13-straight years from 1997-2009.

Pastner came to Memphis as an assistant coach in May 2008, and in only his first season as an assistant on the staff in 2008-09, he helped the Tigers continue their rarefied success. Memphis posted a 33-4 overall record and third-straight 16-0 mark in the Conference USA regular season. The Tigers entered the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on a school-record 27-game win streak, which was also the longest in the nation in 2008-09. The NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance was the program's fourth straight, tying a school mark.

Memphis made it another sweep of the C-USA crowns, winning the league's tournament for a fourth-consecutive season. The Tigers also jumped into the top five of both national polls, reaching as high as the No. 2 spot. Memphis finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll and No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

Pastner came to Memphis after a successful six-year stint as an assistant coach on Hall of Famer Lute Olson's staff at the University of Arizona. From 2003-08, Arizona averaged nearly 23 wins per season (137-60 record; .695 winning percentage), captured two Pac-10 regular season championships (2003, 2005) and advanced to two NCAA Tournament regional finals (2003, 2005). The Wildcats earned NCAA Tournament berths in each of Pastner's six seasons as an assistant coach.

Pastner, who was with the Arizona program as a player, administrator and coach since 1996, was a key cog in the Wildcats' recruiting efforts and working with the program's big men.

In his six seasons as an assistant in Tucson, Pastner's tireless efforts on the recruiting trail paid big dividends, as the Wildcats continued to successfully recruit top-notch student-athletes. Arizona's recruiting classes were among the best nationally in each of his six seasons as an assistant. In June of 2005, Rivals.com's Chris Wallace named Pastner one of college basketball's top 25 recruiters, writing, "Any list of top recruiters must include Pastner." In May 2008, FoxSports.com rated Pastner as the No. 7 high-major recruiter in the country. And just prior to taking the Memphis head coach position, Basketball Times named Pastner the No. 5 assistant coach in the country in the publication's April 2009 issue.

During his time at Arizona, Pastner was also involved in a wealth of charitable organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson, Boy Scouts of America, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Naval Special Warfare Foundation, Special Olympics and various local law enforcement support groups to name a few. His charitable efforts got him named to the Tucson Business Edge's "40 Under 40" list for 2007. The honor recognizes local business leaders under 40 years of age. The annual list not only recognizes recipients for professional success, but community involvement, public service and participation in trade groups or professional organizations.

Pastner played in 42 games as a Wildcat and finished his career with an average of 0.9 ppg. The Wildcats were 42-0 in the games in which he appeared.

Despite his lack of playing time, Pastner's presence in the Arizona program was invaluable, performing many of the small "behind-the-scenes" things that helped the team win the 1997 NCAA championship and two Pac-10 titles (1998, 2000) during his career. Pastner helped break down game tapes and scout opponents, and he was the shot specialist for many of the Wildcat players. In his 12 overall years with the program, Arizona had a 290-103 record (.738 winning percentage).

Pastner earned his bachelor's degree in Family Studies from Arizona in December 1998, two-and-a-half years after enrolling, the fastest an Arizona student-athlete has ever earned a degree. He finished his master's in Teaching and Teacher Education in December 1999 before beginning work on his doctorate. In his role as an undergraduate assistant in 2000-01, Pastner began pursuit of another undergraduate degree.

Despite taking as many as 33 units a semester while at Arizona, Pastner maintained a high grade-point average, was nominated for the CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-America team and was named to the Academic All-Pac-10 second team as a senior in 2000.

On May, 16, 2009, Pastner married the former Kerri Lamas, and the couple resides in Memphis. Pastner has a stepson, Ethan, and a daughter, Payten Sydney, who was born May 27, 2010.