Conference USA Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 18, 2020

SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: Chris Douglas-Roberts #14, Derrick Rose #23 and Antonio Anderson #5 of the Memphis Tigers walk off the court in the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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MEMPHIS, TN – FEBRUARY 6: Josh Pastner, head coach of the Memphis Tigers (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /

8. Conference USA Basketball head coach rankings – Josh Pastner

Memphis (2009-2013)

A lot can be said about Pastner during his coaching career, though his time with Memphis was a bit disappointing. The former Arizona assistant inherited a program on top of the world and didn’t exactly continue that momentum, but it’s not all bad. What he accomplished in his four years in Conference USA was still outstanding and certainly worthy of recognition.

In these four years, his Memphis teams were 106-34, including a 52-12 romp through conference play. Three times they made the NCAA Tournament, though just the 2013 team was able to win their opening-round game. Pastner took what John Calipari left behind and continued to put Memphis in a position for success, albeit not at the same high levels.

Memphis departed for the newly formed AAC in 2013. At that point, Memphis was still doing fantastic things in conference, even if the league had weakened through realignment over the years. Pastner wasn’t directly responsible for building the program’s momentum, but he was still around in the AAC as the momentum began to vanish. We can’t shame Pastner for not being Calipari and those four years dominating the C-USA are evidence his stint was a success.