KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the minutes after his team had fallen victim to a second-half surge by Miami in the Elite Eight, Texas interim coach Rodney Terry found himself fighting back tears when he described how much his Longhorns team meant to him this season.

“It was all about this team, man, and I enjoyed every single day of this journey with this group,” Terry said as he looked toward Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr after they had each played their last games for the Longhorns.

That fact then seemed to hit Terry as he said those words out loud.

“I’m going to really miss working with this group,” Terry said before pausing to gather himself. “It was never about me. It was always about these guys. I love these guys.”

But now that Texas is out of the NCAA tournament following its 88-81 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday, the biggest offseason question for Texas — and one of the biggest in college basketball — is about Terry: Is he the man that the Texas athletic department wants coaching the team next season?

Terry was thrust into the interim coaching job at Texas in December after former coach Chris Beard was arrested for felony domestic violence. Texas suspended Beard without pay following his arrest and his job status was in limbo through the start of January before the Longhorns fired him.

Beard had just started his second season at Texas after arriving from Texas Tech after he had guided the Red Raiders to a national title game. Texas entered the 2022-23 season with a roster that included five seniors and star sophomore guard, Tyrese Hunter. Yet after a 7-1 start, Beard’s arrest had the potential to unravel a promising season before it really ever got started.

“This team dealt with a lot of trials and tribulations,” forward Brock Cunningham said.

Instead, Texas went 5-1 during Beard’s suspension. When it was official Beard wasn’t coming back to the bench in January, Terry became the favorite to become Beard’s permanent successor if Texas continued to win.

And the Longhorns have kept winning to the tune of 22-8 in Terry's tenure. Texas finished second to Kansas in the gauntlet that was the Big 12 before roundly beating the Jayhawks by 20 in the Big 12 tournament title game. It was Texas’ second win over Kansas in eight days and Terry’s players didn’t hold back about what they thought of him.

“Watch the game we just played and every single game we played this season,” Carr said after that win over KU.

Yet Terry still kept the interim tag after the Big 12 tournament and into the NCAA tournament. Why? Is something giving the Texas athletic department pause?

It’s easy to think that Terry would have already been named Texas’ permanent coach if the Longhorns were eager to keep him in charge. The seven losses Texas had in the regular season were the fewest in program history since a 31-7 season in 2008. That was also the last time Texas was as high as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Perhaps it’s Terry’s previous track record as a head coach that’s giving Texas some public hesitation. In previous stops at Fresno State and UTEP, Terry’s teams combined to go 163-156 with one NCAA tournament appearance.

You can also make the argument that coaching a talented veteran roster largely put together by another coach isn’t the best test either. But conversely, how many coaches would have navigated a situation the 2022-23 Texas men’s basketball team faced as well as Terry?

But if Texas is trying to keep its options open, it’s hard to see where it could find an upgrade from outside its current coaching staff. The college basketball carousel has been largely quiet so far. Save for perhaps Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May, there isn’t a successful Group of Five coach seemingly destined for a Power Five job in the near future. And given his Indiana ties, May could be more of a Big Ten guy anyway.

While the Longhorns ultimately fell short of their first Final Four in 20 years, a blown lead in the second half against Miami shouldn’t be a referendum on Terry’s work all season long. It would have been impossible for Texas not to keep Terry had his team been the ones cutting down the nets in Kansas City on Sunday night.

That question shouldn’t get any easier just because Miami ended up winning. Texas should stop hesitating and name Terry the permanent coach before the Final Four begins just down the road in Houston. Yes, there's a roster to reload. But it's hard not to see how Texas has played over the past 30 games and hear how his players talk about Terry and believe there's someone better for the job.

"I'd say we built a family, relationships — I think it's real love and the passion that we have for this sport that we connected with to try achieve that goal and go to Houston," Hunter said Sunday night. "Rodney Terry really cares about everybody in this program. And it just shows you his love and passion for us."