I know a lot of college basketball coaches -- heads and assistants -- who like to play golf. These guys sneak in rounds during the offseason, in between recruiting jaunts, all of it. Hey, a lot of them are athletes, former basketball players themselves. Golf is one of those ever-challenging games.
But you know who doesn't like golf? New Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner.
And now we know, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that Pastner will not consider any assistants for his new staff at Georgia Tech if indeed they hit the links.
“My first question to anyone I (might) hire is, ‘Do you golf?’” Pastner said this week. “If they say, ‘Yes,’ you can’t work for me, because that means five hours on a Sunday or on a Saturday. Can’t. Don’t want it. That’s for my assistant coaches. Any of my assistant coaches, if they’re golfers, not working for me.”
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And, to be clear, Pastner wasn’t saying that an assistant coach can never be seen on a golf course ever again. Regardless, those who play regularly will have to find work elsewhere.
“I know there are going to be some fund-raising (golf events) you’ve got to drive around, but I couldn’t handle five hours,” he said. “I couldn’t handle it and I wouldn’t want my staff to do it, either.”
I followed up with Pastner on Friday afternoon. He called me on his way to New York. It's the first day of the April live period to recruit. He's flying alone; he has no assistants on his staff yet.
"I'm going to be really meticulous, really take my time," Pastner said of the hiring process. "None of my assistants can be golfers. If any of my assistants are golfers, won't fly with me. It's not as much is that it's golf, it's that, if you're going to be here, you're going to have to work like crazy. We're rebuilding. It's going to be a seven-day-a-week job."
Ironically, Pastner lived on a golf course when he was the coach at Memphis for the past seven seasons. He was gifted a brand new set of Nike clubs. They sat there for years, unused. He even played golf when he was in middle school. But no more.
"I'm excited about that challenge to build something from the bottom," Pastner said of the Georgia Tech gig. "The guys who I hire have to be aligned with me to understand what kind of work ethic it's going to take to get this thing of built. ... And I love golf. I loved watching when Tiger Woods was in his prime. I have a great appreciation for golf. Those athletes are some of the best in the world. It's not about my staff not golfing, it's just, it's more of the time commitment. It's about the theory, you're not even going to have time. You can't even be on your cellphone when you're on the course. It's not the ethical way to play golf, you can't be on your cellphone the whole time."
I will note that playing golf does not preclude college basketball coaches from finding success. In fact, most of the great ones do play. Some, like UNC's Roy Williams, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Belmont's Rick Byrd, are drawn to swinging the sticks almost as much as coaching hoops.
In fact, every coach at this year's Final Four: Williams, Boeheim, Oklahoma's Lon Kruger and national title-winning coach Jay Wright of Villanova? All avid golfers.
Different strokes for different folks, and Pastner is one of the -- and I say this in an endearing way -- odd ducks in the coaching profession. He doesn't swear, doesn't drink caffeine or soda, and he doesn't want you playing golf if you're on his staff. All coaches have their quirks. Pastner's are just quirkier than most, and given the uphill climb he's facing at Georgia Tech, you can't fault him for being so immediately ardent.
