Josh Pastner (USATSI)
Memphis coach Josh Pastner has taken the Tigers to four consecutive NCAA tourneys. (USATSI)

Editor's Note: Memphis coach Josh Pastner will be featured on "Northwestern Mutual Presents NCAA Men of March" airing Saturday at 1 p.m. on CBS followed by another "Northwestern Mutual Presents NCAA Men of March" featuring Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins.

141-51.

To date, through five and a half seasons as Memphis' coach, that's Josh Pastner's record. It's a .734 win percentage, which is among the 20 best in college hoops since Pastner succeeded some guy named John Calipari as Tigers' Poo-bah back in 2009.

Admit it: That's pretty impressive, and it's a fact that often gets overlooked when discussing Memphis' program and the job Pastner's done since taking over for the superstrong program that Calipari constructed for the better part of a decade. Memphis is a fanatical city about its college hoops -- plenty in the area still prefer the Tigers over the in-vogue and increasingly appealing Memphis Grizzlies -- but it's not a surefire blue blood program.

Memphis basketball has peaked and valleyed through the years. It's almost always been interesting, and there are certainly always pitfalls by way of troublesome players that pass through the program. It's easy to crater out, yet Memphis has been fairly steady since the turn of the century. It's ability to do this is part infrastructure, part local talent, part conference allegiance, part coaching.

NCAA Men of March on CBS
  • Sat. Jan. 24, 1 PM – Josh Pastner
  • Sat. Jan. 24, 1:30 PM – Johnny Dawkins
  • Sat. Jan. 31, 12:30 PM – Jay Wright
  • Sat. Feb. 7, 12:30 PM – Mike Krzyzewski
  • Sat. Feb. 14 12:30 PM – Bill Self
  • Sun. Feb. 22, 12 PM – Sean Miller
  • Sat. Feb. 22, 12:30 PM – Thad Matta

It's about time we gave a little more credit to that last part, and the most recent coach, Pastner, in this regard. Why hasn't it happened, though? Easy answer: A big-time NCAA Tournament run, basically. Either an Elite Eight, a Final Four or consistent second-weekend showings in March are requisite when it comes to a certain elite status of coach in college hoops. I suppose that's fair. Pastner's not truly there just yet, even if Memphis is a March staple.

I also know Pastner's deserving of a little more time before his reputation is cemented in this ambiguous state, you know? Think about it this way: There used to be a certain stigma with Pastner. You probably didn't think about it as you clicked and started to read this story. Maybe only now is what I'm reference starting to jog your memory; maybe even still you don't know what I'm referring to.

It's that top-25 win thing. Remember that? How, for five years, Pastner had not defeated a team ranked in the top 25. It became a 50-pound chain around his neck, I guess, if you were to follow the media reports as it happened. But eventually, in late 2013, Pastner got that win over a team that happened to have a number on the left side of its name when it played on TV.

Since then, you haven't thought about it. Neither has he. It was a deal -- until it wasn't. Pastner is never one to make promises.

"You're only human" is one of his favorite sayings; he has to have used those words with me at least 20 times in interviews or conversation over the years. Pastner is embraceable and very much human, even if his personality quirks (you know them by now: never had soda, refuses to swear, etc.) are as endearing as they are peculiar.

His place in college basketball is an interesting one. Plenty still doubt Pastner, yet he wears that beaming smile, remains as energetic as anyone in coaching, and continues to recruit relatively well.

He's been to the NCAA Tournament every season in Memphis except his first one, when the Tigers finished 24-10 and basically had a six-man rotation.

Pastner's future is intriguing to me. I can envision scenarios wherein he's at Memphis for another 12 years. I can also see him being at a new school by 2017. And that wouldn't be because of something bad, necessarily.

Given the conference he's now in, the American Athletic Conference, it's possible for Pastner to keep Memphis nationally relevant while continuing to be a lord in that league. He won't promise anything, and nor should he.

We used to allow young coaches to be that -- young. To grow, fail, progress and figure it all out. Pastner is content in being as aggressive in the moment as he can be without losing sight of the bigger picture.

Instead of looking for what's missing, plenty could look at Pastner's first job as a head coach in college basketball and see all that is there: four NCAA Tournaments, a .734 win percentage, a program still nationally relevant. And this from a coach who's still three years away from being 40.