Texas men’s basketball is removing the interim tag off of Rodney Terry, finalizing a deal on Monday (March 27) to make him the next head coach. The deal is for $15.3 million over five years and a press conference is expected this week, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry had quite an audition for the Longhorns job 🤘
🏀 Beat 1-seed Kansas twice
🏀 Won Big 12 tournament
🏀 Took program to first Elite Eight in 15 years pic.twitter.com/JdSFLSsZbs— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 27, 2023
As the interim coach, Terry led the Longhorns to a 22-8 record that included the Big 12 conference tournament title and the school’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008. Their season ended Sunday in an 88-81 loss to Miami, a game in which they led by as much as 13 in the second half.
Terry, whose 55th birthday was on Monday, originally earned the interim position after former head coach Chris Beard was suspended in December due to a domestic violence charge filed by his wife. Terry had been the associate head coach under Beard since he came to Texas, so he took over at the helm for the remainder of this season. The charges against Beard were eventually dropped, but he was fired by the university on Jan. 5.
This is Terry’s second time with the Longhorns, as he was previously an assistant under Rick Barnes from 2002 to 2011 where he helped Texas reach the Final Four in 2003 and their last two Elite Eight runs in 2006 and 2008. He is also credited with recruiting McDonald’s All-Americans and NBA All-Stars such as Kevin Durant, D.J. Augustin and Tristan Thompson.
After his first stint at Texas, Terry became the head coach at Fresno State, where he led the Bulldogs to four 20-win seasons in six years and the NCAA Tournament in 2016. He turned that success into a head coaching job at UTEP, where he spent three seasons before returning to his home state’s flagship school.
Texas’ interim head coach Rodney Terry is finalizing a deal to be the next HC for the Longhorns, per @JonRothstein
Terry reflected on how much the team meant to him after Texas lost in the Elite Eight this weekend ❤️
(via @MarchMadnessMBB)pic.twitter.com/C5FTI3AbWU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 27, 2023
Despite his success, Texas was reluctant to remove Terry’s interim tag before the season was over, and as a result he was the focal point of several teams looking to fill their head coaching vacancies. Terry helped build Texas’ current roster while also being the primary recruiter for top-40 prospect A.J. Johnson, who is committed to the Longhorns for next season.
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