Joe Pasternack is in his fourth season as Arizona’s associate head coach, having been promoted to the position in June 2013.
He joined the UA staff in May 2011 and has helped the Wildcats to a 142-38 (.789) record, three Sweet 16 appearances and two Elite Eights in four seasons on the bench. He has helped guide teams to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in 17 years as a college coach and administrator.
Pasternack has also been a key component of an Arizona recruiting effort that has landed six-consecutive top-10 classes, including four top-five classes in that stretch.
In 2013-14, Pasternack played an integral in the development of Aaron Gordon from heralded recruit to an All-America-caliber player who was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was taken fourth overall by Orlando in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Pasternack was also a key mentor to 2015 third-team All-American Stanley Johnson, the eighth overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. In addition to earning All-America honors in his lone season at UA, Johnson claimed the inaugural Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award and was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
He also helped guide Allonzo Trier to Pac-12 All-Freshmen accolades in 2015-16. Trier was among the top players in the freshman class in the conference despite missing seven league games with a broken bone in his hand. The freshman guard averaged 14.8 points per game in 27 appearances while earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in December.
A New Orleans native, Pasternack served as head coach at the University of New Orleans from 2007-11 before arriving in Tucson. He led the Privateers to 19 wins in his first season, while establishing himself as a dogged recruiter with one of the Sun Belt’s best recruiting classes.
His final season at UNO saw Pasternack lead the program to 16 wins despite losing the majority of his roster to transfer in the wake of the school’s decision to become an NCAA Division I independent.
Prior to his tenure at UNO, Pasternack spent eight seasons (2000-07) at the University of California, where he oversaw the Bears’ scouting and game preparation efforts, worked with the team’s guards on a day-to-day basis and was involved in coordinating a recruiting effort that landed several top-25 classes.
Pasternack got his start in college basketball as a four-year manager under Bob Knight at Indiana, where he broke down game film and assisted in scouting opponents. He graduated from Indiana in 1999 with a degree in marketing.
Pasternack played four years of varsity basketball at Metairie Park Country Day School in New Orleans. He and his wife, Lindsay, have a son, Joe IV, and a daughter, Lilly.
