Georgia basketball assistant Erik Pastrana is leaving for post at Miami
Georgia is coming off its first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years and it will have to replace one of the guys who helped it get there. Bulldog assistant Erik Pastrana is leaving Athens for a similar job at Miami under new head coach Jai Lucas.
Pastrana spent three seasons at Georgia, starting when Mike White took the head job. He had worked with White for one season, his last at Florida. UGA improved in each of White and Pastrana’s first three years.
The Bulldogs went from 6-26 in Tom Crean’s last season to 16-16 in White’s first campaign. Pastrana was there as Georgia went 20-17 the following season (2023-2024). The team reached 20 wins thanks to a semifinal run in the NIT. This past season the Bulldogs became just the sixth team in school history to win 20 games in the regular season. It finished with a record of 20-13.
Pastrana grew up in Miami and is the son of Cuban immigrants. A chance to return home likely played as significant role in his decision.
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“Once you leave South Florida, and particularly Miami, you realize how different the rest of the country is,” Pastrana told assistant sports communication director John Frierson. “But if you grow up down there, this is what normal life looks like. You’ve got people speaking 15 different languages, you’ve got different cultures, which is really awesome.”
Pastrana also has ties to former South Carolina coach Frank Martin, a fellow Cuban. Martin, who took the Gamecocks to a final four, also grew up in Miami. He also helped Pastrana get involved in the coaching profession.
Prior to his stints at Florida and Georgia, Pastrana was at Oklahoma State for two seasons as an assistant coach. He was also at Florida Atlantic for one season, 2017-2018, and served as the head coach at Daytona State College for the 2017-2018 season. His coaching career started as a graduate assistant at Kansas State from 2007 to 2009.
