Josh Pastner?

[Deleted member 2897]

I want to clarify what action is being taken against Josh. If I understand correctly, these allegations are part of a countersuit filed by Bell in response to Josh's defamation suit. I don't know the claim of the countersuit, but I assume defamation or something similar.

Things would be very different to me if Pendley were suing Josh. And way different if there were criminal charges against Josh. Absent either of those, I can't think the allegations credible, but they will be damaging nonetheless.

In the thread about Josh filing against Bell, I expressed that I thought it a bad idea, that Bell's character led me to think he would escalate. I have no idea how things would work out without the suit, nor what Josh and/or the team were experiencing that isn't public, but I do think this is demonstration that the only way Ron Bell is going to go away is for a court to make it so.

I believe in Josh's suit, it made note of the fact that the 2 of them (Ron and Cruella de Vil) wouldn't stop harassing him and his family. There is no telling what all that means, but I believe it stated at least phone calls, text messages, and emails. So as much as I'm sure they wanted all this to go away, at some point you have to act to force someone to stop. He likely feared for his family's safety, I know I would.

 

[GTJake]

I don't know boys this is some bad sh**, getting alot of attention from the national media ... it's headline news right now on yahoo.com for crying out loud.
Even though I believe as others here that it is false, it's still bad PR for our program.
Pastner should have at least been smart enough not put himself and GT in this position with these nuts cases ... hope it's a valuable lesson learned.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

I don't know boys this is some bad sh**, getting alot of attention from the national media ... it's headline news right now on yahoo.com for crying out loud.
Even though I believe as others here that it is false, it's still bad PR for our program.
Pastner should have at least been smart enough not put himself and GT in this position with these nuts cases ... hope it's a valuable lesson learned.

Its also a sad state of affairs for journalism. Here is a guy whose family publicly says he's lying and that he falsely accuses people of crimes. The NCAA canceled the trip of an investigator out to speak with him after being literally scared of him on the initial phone call. There is so much information in the public domain on this guy that is just bizarre that could be added to the story.

 

[GTJake]

It's the first time in the 5 or so years since we moved out here that I have seen Georgia Tech's name in a Idaho Statesman sports page article header ... sad !

 

[kg01]

Its also a sad state of affairs for journalism. Here is a guy whose family publicly says he's lying and that he falsely accuses people of crimes. The NCAA canceled the trip of an investigator out to speak with him after being literally scared of him on the initial phone call. There is so much information in the public domain on this guy that is just bizarre that could be added to the story.

The point @GTJason is making is the only issue I have with the whole thing. 'Crazy' like this can't be contained to the point where any responsible person should feel comfortable granting this guy as much access as he had. That's the only place where I think GT management should have a legit beef.

Hey, it's a legit question to be asked. That's all I'm saying.

 

[jeffgt14]

The point @GTJason is making is the only issue I have with the whole thing. 'Crazy' like this can't be contained to the point where any responsible person should feel comfortable granting this guy as much access as he had. That's the only place where I think GT management should have a legit beef.

Hey, it's a legit question to be asked. That's all I'm saying.

What I find odd is I never heard anything negative about RB coming out of Memphis where he had plenty of access. There was nothing negative coming out last year about some potentially bat **** crazy guy hanging around the program. Players on our own team (outside Lammers) clearly thought some middle aged white dude in Arizona was ok enough to hang around.

It seems clear he had this crazy side pretty damn well hid. He's obviously intelligent enough to have made the amount of money he has. Some kind of switch has clearly been flipped whether it be he went from being clean and sober to hitting the meth, stopped taking medications that were keeping him under control, or being put on medications that had some kind of adverse crazy affect on his head.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

The point @GTJason is making is the only issue I have with the whole thing. 'Crazy' like this can't be contained to the point where any responsible person should feel comfortable granting this guy as much access as he had. That's the only place where I think GT management should have a legit beef.

Hey, it's a legit question to be asked. That's all I'm saying.

Well I don’t think he had all this access when there was any craziness going on at all. But I could be wrong.

 

[travgt01]

What I find odd is I never heard anything negative about RB coming out of Memphis where he had plenty of access. There was nothing negative coming out last year about some potentially bat **** crazy guy hanging around the program. Players on our own team (outside Lammers) clearly thought some middle aged white dude in Arizona was ok enough to hang around.

It seems clear he had this crazy side pretty damn well hid. He's obviously intelligent enough to have made the amount of money he has. Some kind of switch has clearly been flipped whether it be he went from being clean and sober to hitting the meth, stopped taking medications that were keeping him under control, or being put on medications that had some kind of adverse crazy affect on his head.

Don't gotta be smart to make a lot of money, just take a lot of risks. And he seems like the type that would take risks that could result in jailtime, or at least toe the morality line. I can't imagine this loon made all of his money on the up and up.

 

[YJMD]

I believe in Josh's suit, it made note of the fact that the 2 of them (Ron and Cruella de Vil) wouldn't stop harassing him and his family. There is no telling what all that means, but I believe it stated at least phone calls, text messages, and emails. So as much as I'm sure they wanted all this to go away, at some point you have to act to force someone to stop. He likely feared for his family's safety, I know I would.

This is well received. I did not go far enough in saying that I have no idea whether the suit was a good or bad idea or the circumstances of what had been transpiring that isn't public. I do think there is abundant evidence to believe that the only 2 ways it could stop are: 1. disengage and cut your losses and 2. force (e.g. via court order). I think we are certainly past the point where #1 is an option, if it ever was a realistic one. I hope #2 comes quickly. Until it does, things can only get uglier.

If anyone finds themselves entangled with a person such as Ron Bell, my advice is to take route #1 as soon as it is available. Trying for better is engaging in a sunk cost fallacy. These types of people tend to surround themselves with those who have power, fame, wealth, influence, moral standing in the community, etc.

 

[jeffgt14]

Don't gotta be smart to make a lot of money, just take a lot of risks. And he seems like the type that would take risks that could result in jailtime, or at least toe the morality line. I can't imagine this loon made all of his money on the up and up.

Always possible too but I don't believe he would be where he's at right now if he consistently had these psychotic breakdowns he's on now.

 

[kg01]

What I find odd is I never heard anything negative about RB coming out of Memphis where he had plenty of access. There was nothing negative coming out last year about some potentially bat **** crazy guy hanging around the program. Players on our own team (outside Lammers) clearly thought some middle aged white dude in Arizona was ok enough to hang around.

It seems clear he had this crazy side pretty damn well hid. He's obviously intelligent enough to have made the amount of money he has. Some kind of switch has clearly been flipped whether it be he went from being clean and sober to hitting the meth, stopped taking medications that were keeping him under control, or being put on medications that had some kind of adverse crazy affect on his head.

Well I don’t think he had all this access when there was any craziness going on at all. But I could be wrong.

You both make some good ... well, decent points. I'm just disheartened by this whole mess that just feels imminently avoidable if the guy just wasn't even around.

 

[GTJake]

When and I mean when, our basketball program gets "back" ... don't forget these days and enjoy the ride ever so much more !
I remember when we were rolling in the NCAAT year after year, I was disappointed when we "at least" didn't make the Sweet 16 ...
I still periodically will watch the GT/LSU game when we beat, Shaquille O'Neal ... never get tired of watching it, good medicine when your felling low !!

 

[THWG]

When and I mean when, our basketball program gets "back" ... don't forget these days and enjoy the ride ever so much more !
I remember when we were rolling in the NCAAT year after year, I was disappointed when we "at least" didn't make the Sweet 16 ...
I still periodically will watch the GT/LSU game when we beat, Shaquille O'Neal ... never get tired of watching it, good medicine when your felling low !!

I have a DVD of the 03-04 season that I like to pull out sometimes and watch sometimes. I was only 6, but I still remember how exciting it was and I'll never forget Bynum's layup.

 

[H-Wade]

Now GT is doing an official investigation. BREAKING NEWS on the AJC home page. All of the media is making this look way worse than it actually is, but that's what happens with sexual assault claims these days.

Link

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Now GT is doing an official investigation. BREAKING NEWS on the AJC home page. All of the media is making this look way worse than it actually is, but that's what happens with sexual assault claims these days.

Link

I think I might not mind this. This stupid statement is because I'm typing as I first think about it. But for real, how do you make this go away? If you sue someone into oblivion, or do a he-said/she-said, I don't know if it will really clear the air. And I'd rather not Josh Pastner just get off because the story went away - I'd rather find out that he was truly innocent. So this seems like a way to do that, and hopefully much quicker than any litigation would. I feel real sorry for Josh Pastner, please keep him and his family in your prayers. This is gruesome worthlessness.

 

[GTbball2016]

I think I might not mind this. This stupid statement is because I'm typing as I first think about it. But for real, how do you make this go away? If you sue someone into oblivion, or do a he-said/she-said, I don't know if it will really clear the air. And I'd rather not Josh Pastner just get off because the story went away - I'd rather find out that he was truly innocent. So this seems like a way to do that, and hopefully much quicker than any litigation would. I feel real sorry for Josh Pastner, please keep him and his family in your prayers. This is gruesome worthlessness.

Yep this is a smart move by the university. In today's environment, they would get destroyed in the press if they sat back and did nothing.

In my opinion, if the university thought there was one ounce of truth to the allegations, Pastner would have been placed on a leave of absence pending investigation.

 

[RamblinRed]

I agree. Either they find something and GT can replace Pastner without having to pay him, or nothing is found (which is more likely) and it is one more link in finally putting the Bell scandal to bed.
And since they are having an outside firm do this, it gives it alot more weight than if GT was doing it internally.

Given the current climate in the country i'm not sure you can do anything else.

 

[H-Wade]

I agree. Either they find something and GT can replace Pastner without having to pay him, or nothing is found (which is more likely) and it is one more link in finally putting the Bell scandal to bed.
And since they are having an outside firm do this, it gives it alot more weight than if GT was doing it internally.

Given the current climate in the country i'm not sure you can do anything else.

Yeah I agree with you both it's just that the sensationalist headlines make it seem way worse that it actually is. Once people actually read the details it's easy to see that the guy is a total lunatic. Unfortunately these days people only read the headline and assume guilty until proven innocent.

Hopefully our internal investigation can wrap up quicker than the typical NCAA investigation.

 

[GTbball2016]

Yeah I agree with you both it's just that the sensationalist headlines make it seem way worse that it actually is. Once people actually read the details it's easy to see that the guy is a total lunatic. Unfortunately these days people only read the headline and assume guilty until proven innocent.

Hopefully our internal investigation can wrap up quicker than the typical NCAA investigation.

Maybe people are seeing different headlines than me, but I've been plesantly surprised at how the twitterverse hasn't immediately called for Pastner to be fired or put on leave. Most have taken his side from what I've seen.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

HOLY CRAP, Ken Sugiura just asked CJP in a press conference, that was opened by saying his comments on the matter were through his lawyer and he's focused on basketball now...basketball question, basketball question, basketball question...and then Ken asks CJP what he would do if someone accused 1 of his kids of sexual assault.

WHAT THE F.......................his kids are CHILDREN. What kind of sick world does Ken live in? HOLY MOLY. I would offer him a chance to apologize privately to CJP or never welcome him on campus again. A hypothetical where Josh's young children are sexually assaulting people? And I like how Ken held that gotcha question until the end, probably knowing he might blow up the entire press conference like a nuclear bomb.