New UNLV coach’s past includes attempt to extort him, NCAA investigation

New UNLV basketball coach Josh Pastner arrives with a few skeletons in his closet.

Pastner had a tumultuous run at Georgia Tech that included an NCAA investigation and the Yellow Jackets being banned from postseason play for major recruiting violations. Several of the sanctions against the men’s basketball program were later overturned.

That investigation also led to a bizarre extortion case involving Pastner and one of his former friends who provided improper benefits to Georgia Tech players under Pastner’s watch.

Toss in his exit from Memphis, when the school was so disappointed with Pastner’s performance that it paid him to take another job, and there’s plenty of baggage — along with a 276-187 career coaching record and five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Placed on probation

Pastner’s tenure at Georgia Tech got off to a bumpy start in 2016-17 when assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie was placed on administrative leave and later resigned. Two Yellow Jackets players also were suspended that season for accepting apparel, meals and transportation.

In 2019, Georgia Tech was placed on four years’ probation by the NCAA and banned from playing in the postseason for one season for impermissible benefits to players in 2016 and 2017. The sanctions also included a reduction of scholarships, recruiting restrictions and a $5,000 fine, plus 2 percent of the program’s budget.

According to the NCAA, LaBarrie gave a recruit $300 for a visit to an Atlanta strip club and later provided false statements about the trip. He also attempted to influence a member of the team to provide false statements.

LaBarrie also arranged for the recruit to meet with a former Georgia Tech player playing for the Atlanta Hawks in 2016. The NCAA said the recruit visited the NBA player’s home and received a free meal.

The recruit received more than $660 in benefits, including the money at the strip club, the NCAA said.

“Adult entertainment has no place in the NCAA Collegiate Model,” the NCAA committee on infractions wrote in its ruling.

LaBarrie was given a three-year show-cause order by the NCAA, and Georgia Tech dissociated from LaBarrie for three years. The school was ordered by the NCAA to disassociate from former star player Jarrett Jack for three years.

The NCAA committee also said Pastner’s former friend, Ron Bell, provided former Georgia Tech players Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson and a potential transfer player with almost $2,500 in impermissible benefits such as shoes, clothes, meals, transportation and lodging in 2016 and 2017.

Pastner repeatedly warned Bell against providing any illegal benefits, according to the NCAA, but allowed him to continue interacting with the Georgia Tech program. The NCAA report also said that Pastner reported the violations when he was made aware of them by Bell.

Pastner was not directly named in the NCAA’s report and was cleared in Georgia Tech’s internal investigation. Georgia Tech permanently disassociated itself from Bell.

In 2021, an NCAA infractions appeals committee overturned several of the sanctions against Georgia Tech.

Fabricated assault allegation

However, the allegations levied against Bell led to a series of lawsuits. Pastner filed a defamation suit in 2018 against Bell and his girlfriend Jennifer Pendley, accusing the couple of trying to blackmail him. Bell and Pendley countersued and claimed Pastner sexually assaulted Pendley in 2016 in a hotel room in Houston.

Pastner denied the charge and said there was “zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations.”

Bell was convicted in 2021 by an Arizona judge on six misdemeanor charges for falsely accusing Pastner of sexual assault. In 2023, Bell pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit extortion and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. Pendley also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion.

Pastner was fired by Georgia Tech in 2023 after going 109-114 in seven seasons with one NCAA Tournament appearance.

Before his time at Georgia Tech, Pastner spent seven seasons at Memphis from 2009 to 2016 and reached the NCAA Tournament four times. However, the Tigers bottomed out in Pastner’s final two seasons and failed to reach the postseason.

Rather than fire Pastner and pay a $10.6 million buyout, Memphis agreed to a $1.255 million contract settlement and welcomed his departure to Georgia Tech in 2016.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.