The surprise isn’t so much that Georgia Tech has hired Damon Stoudamire. It’s that the Jackets hired him so fast. Not 80 hours ago, Josh Pastner – another Arizona alumnus – still had the job. But if you’re sure this is who you want, there’s no reason to string things out for appearance’s sake. Time is money, as they say.
It’s clear J Batt knew what he wanted to do before the job came open. The savvy athletic directors do. Which, in a way, brings us back to Pastner. It’s believed Jeff Capel removed himself from consideration back in 2016, when Capel was a Duke assistant who wanted the Tech job, because Mike Bobinski, then the Jackets’ AD, took too long to get back to him.
Bobinski wound up hiring Pastner on April 8, 2016. Brian Gregory was fired on March 25, two days after Tech was beaten in Round 3 of the NIT. Bobinski went to the Final Four in Houston and interviewed coaches there. That used to be the custom. Things move faster now. Pastner was hired three days after the national championship game. Batt landed Stoudamire more than 24 hours before the First Four is set to commence in Dayton.
