GREENSBORO, N.C. — There were signs of encouragement at the start of the season, then a nosedive and finally a reversal in fortune. And then Georgia Tech’s season came to an end Wednesday with a second-round loss to Pittsburgh in the ACC Tournament.

“I wanted to keep playing because we were playing so well,” coach Josh Pastner said in a hallway just outside the Tech locker room at the Greensboro Coliseum.

He said he was sad for the season to end.

“But I’m beyond proud and at peace and really content and just have tremendous enthusiasm for our young men for how they battled and fought back,” he said. He paused. “And I want to continue to be at Georgia Tech. I pray, I hope I get the opportunity to do so.”

The question that has loomed over Pastner and the team since the team slid into a nine-game losing streak – will athletic director J Batt keep him or let him go – has become the primary order of business with the season over.

Batt, who was with the team in Greensboro and watched the Yellow Jackets’ two games from behind the team bench with dispassion, declined a request for comment from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the game. He had previously released a statement prior to the tournament saying that he will sit down with Pastner to evaluate the year after the season as he does with all of the department’s coaches. There has been little indication of what direction, if any, Batt is leaning towards.

The case against Pastner isn’t hard to make. After successfully fulfilling his plan to get the team into the NCAA Tournament by his fifth season – and winning the ACC championship in the process – the Jackets collapsed. Tech was 12-20 last season and 14th in the ACC and then finished this year at 15-18 and 13th in the conference. The combined 27-38 record (.415 winning percentage) is the worst by a Tech coach since Dwane Morrison in his final two seasons (1979-80 and 1980-81), although predecessors Bobby Cremins, Paul Hewitt and Brian Gregory (and Pastner himself in his second and third seasons) came close. Fan support has drooped measurably.

The plan to build a winner by “getting old and staying old” worked as far as getting old and winning with Moses Wright and Jose Alvarado, resulting in the 2021 ACC championship. The “staying old” part has not been effective in the past two seasons. Extenuating circumstances have contributed – notably Alvarado and Wright not deciding to turn professional until most of the top players in the transfer portal had already committed elsewhere, hamstringing Pastner’s efforts to bring in more talent. However, Pastner ultimately bears responsibility and could well have had talent already on the roster ready to take their place.

The case for Pastner is that he has a record of developing players like Alvarado and Wright and has a core in sophomores Miles Kelly, Jalon Moore and Deebo Coleman who could lead the Jackets back to competitiveness next season. The team’s strong finish after its nine-game losing streak is pointed to as evidence of the strong culture that Pastner has established. Another is that the potential cost of a transition would be difficult to take on given the money already spent for the football coaching change.

Pastner contended that, were he given the opportunity, he could lead the team to the NCAA Tournament next season. Five of the six players who took the court Wednesday and drove the Jackets’ 7-3 record in the final 10 games of the season have eligibility remaining. Only forward Ja’von Franklin is at the end of his career, which is a significant loss. Pastner said that “we’ve got something special” with the roster and that “there’s a lot of positive to look forward to.”

If given a chance, “I believe (an NCAA Tournament berth) will get done,” Pastner said.

Tech has one signee for the 2023 class, four-star guard Blue Cain from Knoxville, Tenn. Where Tech’s transfer-portal recruiting last offseason was impacted by the lack of a collective that coaches could tout to players as a source of name, image and likeness deals, Batt has helped to develop a collective at Tech (the Tech Way) that could help Tech to be more of a player in that market.

“Obviously, we haven’t had it for the last two years,” Pastner said. “But the plan is to have it moving forward, which is a great thing because you’ve got to have it in this landscape. Obviously, things have changed and you’ve got be able to have the NIL, especially in this league, in this level.”

Pitt and N.C. State, which were both 11-21 last season but are both in NCAA Tournament contention with the help of players acquired through the transfer portal, offered proof that such a drastic turnaround is possible.

Pastner said that he had a plan that he could share with Batt about how to raise the team’s competitiveness, but declined to share specifics.

“My mind is always thinking about, how can we continue to get better?” Pastner said. “Part of the reason I felt we did a nice job on turning the page this year and turning it around was I thought we were solution-focused and solution-oriented. I feel the same way about even going into next season how do we have the solutions to get ourselves back to the NCAA Tournament.”

In the locker room after the game, players spoke on Pastner’s behalf. Coleman credited him with stopping the nine-game losing streak and reversing the team’s course with his energy.

“He had the same energy every day and kept it consistent,” Coleman said. “That showed us that he’s still got our back so we’ve got no choice but to go out and play hard.”

Kelly called him a great coach who has been hard on him because he wants the best for him.

“I love coach Pastner,” Kelly said. “I think he should be the Georgia Tech coach forever.”

Guard Kyle Sturdivant said that Pastner’s energy and passion have made him a better player and a better person.

“I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else,” he said.

Whether he will have to is now up to Batt.