It will be interesting to see this replacement. BJ (my favorite GT player ever) makes the most sense given his connections but I don’t know anything of his coaching ability.
Hardy leaving was the biggest blow to the program under CJP IMHO but this will hurt. There are so many Atlanta connected guys out in the ether right now and there is no way GT offers enough to lure them away. This is bad for us, we won’t pay the recruiters and just lost our best developer.
I think you put the nail on the head here. GT got raked over the coals for taking a recruit to a Strip club, the Institute is simply not going to be willing to play any under the table games.
As Wasp has so eloquently written how recruiting has developed over the last decade has put GT in a more disadvantaged place.
That doesn't mean GT has to accept poor teams. This coach himself has shown with the right players and coaches we can play for ACC Championships and make NCAA Tourneys.
One question I had that I thought would be answered when we hired Pastner was 'is our recruiting difficulties due to coaching or due to something else?' as Pastner was a good recruiter at Memphis.
The answer is probably not a straight black and white answer. I think Pastner and his staff do need to recruit better, but I think some of it is likely due to the school, not the staff. If you want a good illustration of that look at Jeff Capel at Pitt. He was one of the best recruiters in the country at OK and Duke, not so much so at Pitt - where he has struggled almost as much in recruiting as Pastner has at GT.
