Skip to content

Georgia Tech's Josh Pastner returns voicemail from angry Syracuse fan

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

A Syracuse fan received a phone call they most likely did not expect to have returned.

Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner received a voicemail from a Syracuse fan Monday morning, complaining about the way Yellow Jackets fans treated an Orange player during their game Sunday, according to Kevin Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The issue stemmed from the fan being upset Georgia Tech's fans chanted "air ball" every time John Gillon touched the ball, after the guard missed the rim on a 3-point attempt in the first half.

Pastner recounted the conversation, saying the fan told him the chanting was offensive, unclassy and wrong.

The Yellow Jackets head coach replied that the game was not intramurals, "nor is it the Love Boat, where everyone gets served cocktails at 4 p.m. This is men’s elite college basketball.”

Paster told the fan the same thing would happen at the Carrier Dome, where Syracuse plays, if a Yellow Jackets player were to air ball a shot.

The coach then asked another situational question.

“Will all the fans, when we shoot free throws at the Carrier Dome in a while, will they all be quiet and silent?” Pastner asked. “I think that would be the right thing to do. Would that be a fair tradeoff?”

Obviously a rhetorical question, Pastner ended his recount of the tale by encouraging the student section to keep up the good work.

“You need to yell it even louder now, all through the game,” he said.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox