Josh Pastner has signed a five-year, $4.8 million deal to be UNLV men’s basketball coach, according to the contract, obtained via a public records request.
Pastner will make $500,000 his first season, and his salary will jump to $1 million for his second and third seasons. His pay will increase to $1.15 million for his fourth and fifth seasons.
Pastner replaces the fired Kevin Kruger, who was scheduled to make $800,000 in the last two years of his deal.
Pastner, 47, called UNLV a “dream job” in a release from UNLV announcing his hiring.
He will be introduced at a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Strip View Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the event is open to the public.
“I am truly enthused about becoming the head coach of the Runnin’ Rebels,” Pastner said. “This has always been a dream job for me, and I fully recognize the significance of UNLV in the landscape of college basketball. The program holds great importance for both the Las Vegas community and the region, and I am eager to unite Rebel Nation with the goal of restoring the program to national prominence.”
Pastner went 276-187 over 14 seasons at Memphis and Georgia Tech with five NCAA Tournament appearances. He has spent the past two seasons as a college basketball analyst for ESPN.
He said during an interview on ESPN on Tuesday that he has used these past two seasons to “self-reflect” on what worked and what didn’t at his previous stops.
“I truly believe I’ll be a better coach moving forward as the UNLV men’s basketball coach than ever before,” he said.
‘Relentless recruiter’
He was 167–73 in seven seasons at Memphis (2009-16) and took the Tigers to four NCAA Tournaments. UNLV is scheduled to play at Memphis next season.
After missing the NCAA Tournament in his last two seasons with the Tigers, Pastner went to Georgia Tech. He posted a 109-114 record in seven seasons (2016-23) with the Yellow Jackets. The program reached the National Invitation Tournament championship game in 2017 and won the ACC tournament in 2021 to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Pastner, who won an NCAA title as a player with Arizona in 1997, was named Conference USA coach of the year in 2013 and ACC coach of the year in 2017.
UNLV athletic director Erick Harper said in the release that he has known Pastner for more than 20 years, dating to Pastner’s time as an assistant at Arizona (2002-08). Harper served as the associate athletics director for football operations at Arizona from 2003 to 2011.
“He is a fearless and relentless recruiter with success as a head coach, and is also an exceptional communicator, deeply committed to engaging with the Las Vegas community,” Harper said. “Furthermore, Josh is committed to connecting with Runnin’ Rebel alumni, ensuring that everyone feels involved in the program’s success. We are confident that he will lead us to win championships and return the Runnin’ Rebels to the NCAA Tournament.”
‘Perfect hire’
In the release, UNLV included quotes from three Hall of Fame coaches — former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, Arkansas coach John Calipari and former Villanova coach Jay Wright — praising Pastner.
Wright, who was an assistant at UNLV for two seasons (1992-94), said Pastner is the “perfect hire for UNLV.”
Pastner “has the unique qualities needed to lead the Runnin’ Rebels,” Wright said. “Josh has the basketball IQ to guide his team on the court, and he’s a teacher and developer of talent. He has the energy and charisma to engage the Las Vegas community like no other. His recruiting energy, passion and experience will structure a roster that will allow the Rebels to compete for championships.”
Pastner wasn’t the only coach in the running for UNLV’s opening. The Review-Journal reported that Bryan Hodgson, then the coach at Arkansas State, was a candidate for the job, along with Pastner and Florida assistant Carlin Hartman.
National reports surfaced Monday that Hodgson was the leading candidate for the UNLV job, but South Florida announced later that day that Hodgson would be the Bulls’ new coach. A few hours later, Pastner and UNLV came together on a deal.
UNLV alumnus and longtime athletics booster Bill Paulos — president of the university’s name, image and likeness collective — said he believes Pastner will be “a good hire.”
“If you ask five different people, they wanted five different coaches,” Paulos said. “If you talk to this guy, he wanted this guy and if you talk to the other guy, he wanted that guy. Initial reactions, quite frankly, are knee-jerk reactions … I think the initial reaction was mixed, but I think today, as people have thought about it and look more up about Josh, I think it’s becoming more positive.”
Tom Jingoli, a longtime UNLV booster who is involved in the university’s NIL collective with Paulos, said Pastner’s track record and working under successful coaches like Calipari give him confidence he can get UNLV back to being a winning program.
“Everybody wants to get back to the Sweet 16 and NCAA Tournament, but the first thing we got to do is be relevant in the Mountain West in a big way and be competitive in the Mountain West,” Jingoli said. “Based on his track record and success he’s had at other schools, he’s going to do that, and hopefully we can do it relatively quickly.”
‘Have to prove himself’
Paulos said Hodgson, former Mississippi State and Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury and UC San Diego coach Eric Olen were notable candidates who expressed interest in the position.
“As I know, there were at least 20 coaches interested in the position,” Paulos said. “Whether we were paying enough or whether they wanted to move to Las Vegas, all of that comes into fray. As far as I know there were five finalists, and they chose Josh.”
Paulos said that after talking to people in the basketball world, he believes Pastner is a “great recruiter” and a “nice guy” who can connect with the community to generate interest in the program and raise NIL funds.
“We’re very excited in that Josh is known for going out and being happy to talk with the donors and talk with the fans and try to get them behind the program,” Paulos said.
The move is the first basketball coaching hire by Harper. Paulos said Harper’s hires of Barry Odom and Dan Mullen as the school’s football coaches give him confidence.
“This hire by (Harper) wasn’t for UNLV to lose games,” Paulos said. “He just hired two really good football coaches. He made two really good hires. He’s batting 1.000. I’m going to put my money on (Harper) for a while. That’s the way it is. He didn’t make this hire to lose basketball games. He made this hire to improve the program.”
Ultimately, the verdict on Pastner will come down to if he can win.
“Josh is going to have to prove himself, that’s the truth of the matter,” said Paulos, who added he hopes any fans doubting the hire get behind Pastner.
“There’s a lot of people that are excited about the hire, really excited about the hire, and there’s some people that don’t like the hire,” Paulos added. “… Josh is going to have to come and win them over. He understands that. I don’t think there’ll be any problems with him. The more people I talk to that know basketball think that he will do a great job at UNLV.”
Additional compensation
If Pastner is fired before his contract is up, he will be owed 75 percent of the remaining money on his deal. However, he must make “reasonable and diligent efforts to obtain basketball-related employment,” and any money earned in another position would offset what UNLV owes him. Kruger had the same offset provision in his contract.
UNLV is paying Kruger a $2.35 million buyout.
If Pastner leaves for another school, UNLV will be owed a buyout starting at $3 million in his first season and reducing by $250,000 each season until reaching $2 million in the final year of his deal.
Among several yearly performance bonuses, Pastner will receive an additional $25,000 if UNLV earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels have not been to the NCAAs since 2013.
He’ll earn $10,000 for advancing in each round, $50,000 if UNLV reaches the Final Four and an additional $50,000 if the program wins a national championship.
Other performance bonuses include:
— $25,000 for winning or tying for the Mountain West regular-season championship.
— $25,000 for winning the Mountain West tournament championship.
— $25,000 for being named conference coach of the year or co-coach of the year.
— $50,000 for being named national coach of the year.
— $10,000 for winning 14 or more conference games.
— $5,000 for being ranked at any point during the season.
— $15,000 for being ranked in The Associated Press or ESPN Top 25 to finish the season.
— $15,000 for participating in the National Invitation Tournament and $35,000 for winning it.
The bonuses are capped at $135,000 per year.
Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
