Georgia Tech Basketball: 8 candidates to replace Josh Pastner as head coach

Bob Richey

Before we consider this one, let’s take a brief history lesson. The ACC is not in great shape right now, but a few of its programs have made nice hires in recent years. Virginia Tech poached a great head coach in Mike Young from Wofford and Wake Forest has looked better the last couple of seasons since nabbing Steve Forbes from ETSU. Why shouldn’t Georgia Tech copy these programs and steal a great young coach from the SoCon?

Richey is not just some SoCon coach; he’s been fantastic in his time leading Furman. First and foremost, he’s a New Orleans native who’s been a relative unknown. He was a staffer at both Charleston Southern and Furman before getting promoted to the head coaching position in 2017. These last six years represent all of his head coaching experience, but he’s won nearly 140 games, finished Top 3 in the conference each season, and has led the Paladins to their first trip to the Big Dance in 43 years.

Any coach who can average 23 wins a year in the SoCon is doing something right, even if this league has been relatively strong in recent years. Furman has been a strong program under Richey’s leadership and finally broke through to the NCAA Tournament. As a result, Richey might be ready to take on a bigger challenge, and taking that short trip west to Georgia Tech would be quite the test for the 39-year-old.