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While the ever-ebullient former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ player and assistant coach deployed his salesmanship skills in building a new roster over the past few months, he also had to sell a city already drenched in entertainment.

“Everywhere, I’ve gone, I’ve given out my business card — people I meet on the planes, people I see at the gym, ‘Hey, buy UNLV tickets. We need you to buy tickets,’� Pastner said. “I’m trying to be as hands on as I can be to get people back in the Thomas & Mack.�

UNLV’s arena hardly fills up as it did back when UNLV’s Jerry Tarkanian and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s Lute Olson built one of the West’s top rivalries in the 1980s, nor from when the Rebels won the 1990 NCAA title until Tarkanian was forced out in 1992.

“It was a spectacle. It was showtime, like with the Lakers,� Pastner says. “Part of the reason the city is what it is today is because of that ‘80s and ‘90s run.

“Coach Olson and coach Tarkanian, they had the two juggernauts on the West Coast for so long. What coach Olson did for the city of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is what coach Tarkanian and his staff and players did to UNLV and the city of Las Vegas.â€�

Tarkanian’s Rebels packed the Thomas & Mack not only because they were dominant but also because, as Pastner noted, UNLV basketball and boxing were really the only sports in town back then. Now there’s also Golden Knights hockey, Raiders football, Aces WNBA basketball, NBA summer leagues, Team USA exhibitions, MMA and, soon, Athletics baseball.

Maybe even more.

“I do believe they’ll get an NBA team,� Pastner said. “I think it’s an awesome thing. Yes, there’s more things to do, but Las Vegas is becoming the epicenter of not just the entertainment world, but also the sports world.�

While watching a game in the Section 7 high school showcase last month in Mesa, Pastner discussed the whirlwind that has been his life since UNLV hired him on March 25.

While he has been a head coach at Memphis (2010-16) and Georgia Tech (2016-2023), Pastner said the transition was different this time because of the landscape in today’s college basketball.

“When I took over Memphis and Georgia Tech, you already kind of had your team. It wasn’t (about) the portal at those times. You really didn’t go fundraise. You had to go out and see the different high school coaches, AAU coaches.

“I had to get a whole new team (at UNLV). I didn’t go around seeing high school guys and high school coaches. I had to go around my first couple weeks on the job and raise money. In the past, you kind of had a fundraising area within the athletic department. Now, the head coach probably is more of a fundraiser than actually a coach, but that’s the reality of where the world is right now in college athletics.

“I think it’s really hard to like this new model if you don’t like dealing with people. There’s a lot of things I’m not good at, but one of them I’m good at is dealing with people. I like human beings.�

One of the new players Pastner pulled in is sophomore center Emmanuel Stephen, who transferred from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ after playing in only eight games for the Wildcats last season.

“I think he’s going to be really good for us and I thought ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ did a good job developing him. Really good personality. He’s got a great heart. Cares about people. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. We’re really, really excited about him.â€�

At the same time as Pastner built his new roster, the House settlement neared completion, allowing colleges to pay athletes directly while an auditor will vet outside NIL collective deals — although there are lawsuits being filed in some states challenging whether NIL income can be capped at all.

“It’s still in the early process. The question becomes if somebody gets denied on one of those (NIL deals), do they sue? I’m not a legal expert on that. I don’t know. But could that hold up in a court of law, (with somebody) saying you can’t deny me, if somebody’s born in the United States of America?�

On the court, things also look drastically different than even two years ago when Pastner last coached, especially for a guy who played and coached under Olson in the Pac-10.

“It’s weird to even to say there’s a new Pac coming around. I look at the Pac-10 as when there was ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, UCLA, USC, up and down the coast. What’s interesting is (conference) records — like how does that work? It’s just not the same, but that’s because I was there for so long. That all being said, college sports is evolving and ever changing, literally, in real time. So who knows? Could ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ be back in the Pac at one time, or could UNLV go to the Big 12? Could ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ be in the ACC? Stanford and Cal’s in the ACC. I mean ...â€�

Fired by Georgia Tech in March 2023, Pastner left the ACC just months before it agreed to include the Bay area schools starting last season, but had a unique vantage point to watch all the changes: He spent the past two seasons as a television analyst, working Peacock studio shows for Big Ten games, as well as covering games on site for ESPN and CBS Sports Network.

“The nice thing about being in TV is you have a great opportunity to really study the game, study different programs, go to practices and shoot arounds, talk to coaches. When you’re competing against them, they aren’t going to let you behind the scenes.

“I could see what things I did well in my first 14 years as a head coach, and some other things where I thought ‘We’ve got to get better at this area or that area.’ It really gave me a chance, from a 30,000-foot perspective, without the pressure of winning and losing, to really get better as a coach. You didn’t have to make a decision on, ‘How are you going to guard this ball screen? What are you going to do on this back screen? What are you going to do in this out of bounds play?’

“I loved TV. Absolutely loved it. I had some other (coaching) opportunities, but I didn’t feel they were better than television, and the opportunities that I had in television are hard to get. But when the UNLV job opened, to me, it was an awesome opportunity. It was incredible, because it’s a massive job. The tradition of UNLV is awesome. It’s a sleeping giant. I really believe that maybe the trees just need to be shaken a little bit to kind of wake it back up.�

So Pastner is shaking the trees, and he’s courting fans pretty much everywhere. Including those living on Olson’s old turf.

He won’t stop.

“Even if you’re in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, get your tickets at and then email me at joshua.pastner@unlv.edu. That’s my email. Even if you don’t want to use the tickets, please buy tickets and then I will give them to different groups in the community to come to the games.

“I’m wearing multiple hats. Yes, I do my own email.�