So it’s official, Georgia Tech is dropping the appeal of the postseason ban.
Georgia Tech dropping appeal of postseason ban. Story here- more to come.https://t.co/gKALi5GKE6
— Ken Sugiura (@ksugiuraajc) March 2, 2020
While the Jackets are currently playing some of their best basketball of the season, at 15-14 (9-9), an ACC Tournament Title was required to make the NCAA Tournament. The NIT certainly wasn’t out of the question, but would require a win against Pittsburgh at home and win at Clemson. Pittsburgh was possible, but Georgia Tech was looking at having to win at a location where Duke, Louisville, and Florida State all lost.
The chances of making any post-season were pretty slim, and given the NCAA’s reputation for rarely overturning appeal it wasn’t worth the risk for at likely max 2 or 3 ACC Tournament games.
This also virtually assures, to my personal disappointment, that head coach Josh Pastner will be back next year. Georgia Tech AD Todd Stansbury has effectively given Pastner a pass as he’s likely to finish at or above .500 in the ACC and overall.
A cloud has been removed for next year’s team, where Georgia Tech will have an outside chance to make the NCAA Tournament with most of their team returning. Only center James Banks was a significant contributor who won’t be back.
Georgia Tech’s athletic department doesn’t have the best reputation of being very savvy when it comes to working with the NCAA, but under Todd Stansbury and one of his first major decisions this is the correct move.
