The 2025-26 season will be Joe Pasternack's ninth at the helm of the UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team. Over his eight seasons with the program, he has accumulated a 169-81 record for a winning percentage of .676, the best in school history. His 169 wins is the most in the first eight years of any Gaucho head coach.
During the 2024-25 season, the Gauchos earned their eighth consecutive winning season under Pasternack, the longest streak in program history while also achieving 20 or more wins for the sixth time in the same span. The Gauchos continued to show their sharp shooting under Pasternack finishing top 40 in all of Division I in three point percentage (17th), three pointers per game (24th), effective field goal percentage (32nd) and free throw percentage (37th). The Blue and Gold also broke the single-season record for most three pointers made, sinking 340.
Most recently, Pasternack coached the 14th Gaucho to ever be picked in the NBA Draft in Ajay Mitchell, as he went 38th to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Along with that, Pasternack has had the first athlete he has ever coached earn a triple-double as Ariel Bland secured 13 rebounds, 12 points and 10 assists in The Thunderdome.
During 2022-23, the Gauchos set a new record for the most wins in a season with 27. Pasternack led his team to The Big West Tournament Championship, a share of the regular season title, and their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. Along with that, he produced The Big West Player of the Year in Ajay Mitchell as well as an All-Big West Second Team honoree in Miles Norris. Not only that, but Pasternack dominated the transfer portal yet again, bringing in high-quality transfers from Auburn and Creighton.
In his fifth season with the program, Pasternack coached The Big West Freshman of the Year and All-Big West Second Team honoree in Ajay Mitchell while having an All-Big West First Team selection in Amadou Sow. He also added one other All-Big West honorable mention recipient in Miles Norris, who is back in the lineup for the Gauchos this season.
The 2020-21 set the tone for Pasternack’s tenure as the Gauchos posted a 22-5 overall record and 13-3 conference record to win The Big West regular season title for the first time since 2010. Riding a ridiculous run through conference play, this team broke the school record by winning 13 straight games from January 1st to February 27th. The Gauchos also went undefeated at home and ended the year on an 18-2 run. The Gauchos rode that momentum on the way to their first Big West Tournament Championship since 2011, punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the Pasternack era and the sixth time in program history. This feat earned Pasternack his first Big West Coach of the Year award, making him the first Gaucho head coach to earn the honor since 2010.
The 2019-20 season led to a 21-10 overall record and a 10-6 Big West record before the season ended due to COVID-19. The year prior, the Gauchos had a very similar performance as they went 22-10 overall and 10-6 in The Big West, good for second-place. They advanced to the semifinals of The Big West Tournament for the second consecutive season.
In his first year leading the program, Pasternack’s Gauchos tied a school record for wins with 23 and equaled the NCAA’s largest increase in regular season victories from one season to the next, going from six wins to 23. In addition to their 23-9 overall record, they narrowly missed winning The Big West’s regular season title with an 11-5 league mark. UC Santa Barbara also became just the third Big West school to go from single-digit wins one season to 20 or more the next. Pasternack’s team also knew how to protect The Thunderdome as the Gauchos went 12-2 at home for the best Thunderdome record in school history, winning 11-straight home games to open the season.
Prior to Santa Barbara, Pasternack coached at Arizona under Sean Miller. He began his career as a Wildcat as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 season before becoming the team’s associate head coach in June of 2013. In his six seasons on the Wildcat bench, the team recorded a 174-47 overall record, including 124-23 over the last four seasons, while advancing to five NCAA Tournaments, two Sweet 16s and a pair of Elite Eights.
Pasternack was a key part of Arizona recruiting efforts that resulted in six consecutive top-10 classes, including four top-five groups during that stretch. In 2013-14, he played an integral role in the development of Aaron Gordon from a top 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 instrumental in the recruitment and development of Stanley Johnson, the eighth overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons and the 2015 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
Before his six-year run at Arizona, Pasternack was the head coach of his hometown team, the University of New Orleans, from 2007-11. He led the Privateers to 19 wins in his first season and he was credited with the Sun Belt Conference’s top recruiting class. In his final season at UNO, Pasternack guided the program to 16 wins despite a majority of his roster transferring due to the school’s decision to transition out of NCAA Division 1 because of financial hardships following Hurricane Katrina.
Before his tenure at UNO, Pasternack was on the staff at Cal from 2000-07 where he oversaw the Bears’ scouting and game preparation efforts, worked with the team’s guards on a daily basis, and was involved in coordinating recruiting efforts that landed several Top 25 classes.
Pasternack got his start in college basketball as a four-year manager under Bob Knight at Indiana University, where he broke down film and assisted in scouting opponents. He graduated from IU in 1999 with a degree in marketing. He 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.
