NEW ORLEANS ? One of New Orleans' own is coming home.
After an eight-year stint at California, Crescent city product Joe Pasternack has been named the head men's basketball coach at the University of New Orleans, Privateer Director of Athletics Jim Miller announced on Monday.
The hiring is pending approval by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Pasternack becomes the 11th head coach in UNO history and will inherit a team which returns four starters ? including Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and AP All-America selection Bo McCalebb ? from the 2006-07 team.
“I cannot begin to say how elated I am to have Joe Pasternack here at UNO,” Miller said. “He is one of the best young coaches in the country, and the thing that makes me so excited to have him as our coach is he wants to be here.
“He understands what challenges we face here at UNO, he understands the vision we have as an athletics department, and he truly wants to be a part of making our program one that the city of New Orleans and all UNO fans can be proud of.”
Pasternack's road back to New Orleans has been a well-traveled one. The 30-year old, who prepped at Metairie Park Country Day, was a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana University from 1995 through 1999.
After graduating from IU in 1999 with a degree in marketing, Pasternack moved to Berkeley to become video coordinator for head coach Ben Braun at Cal. After two years assisting the Golden Bears in game preparation, film breakdown and other administrative duties, Pasternack was promoted to assistant coach in 2001.
As an assistant coach, Pasternack was involved in all facets of the program ? including recruiting, scouting reports and game preparation.
In his 12-year basketball career, Pasternack has been a part of eight NCAA Tournament teams.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to rebuild the tradition of UNO basketball,” Pasternack said. “It will be our goal to get this program back to where it rightfully belongs ? in postseason play. I am very fortunate that Coach Braun gave me the responsibilities at a young age that he did to prepare me for this job.”
Pasternack and his wife, Lindsay, have a son -- Joe IV.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JOE PASTERNACK
BEN BRAUN, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH
"This is a great opportunity for Joe to become a head coach, especially in his hometown of New Orleans. I feel that he will work hard in continuing to build the UNO program. Joe has been instrumental in our recruiting, scouting and game preparation over the years. He has shown tremendous growth during his tenure at Cal and works as hard as any coach that I have known."
BOB KNIGHT, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEAD COACH
“He's a very bright guy and works extremely hard. I think he will do an excellent job at New Orleans. In fact, I recommended him very strongly for the job last year.”
PETE NEWELL, FORMER HEAD COACH AT CALIFORNIA AND BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
"Joe is a bright guy with a really good basketball background. He learned a lot under Coach Knight and Coach Braun. People at New Orleans may have to calm him down a little because he works too hard sometimes. He understands the basics of coaching, and he's worked with some of the best in the business. He has a great basketball mind, and he will be a guy there for the long haul. He is not a guy looking to get the next job.”
