Fresh off an Elite Eight run, Texas rewarded head coach Rodney Terry with a five-year contract on Monday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello.
Terry took over as interim head coach back in December, following the domestic violence arrest of Chris Beard.
The contract offer was largely expected after Terry delivered on the program’s high expectations this season. Ranked 12th in the preseason poll, Texas won seven of its first eight -- including two top-10 wins -- under former head coach Beard.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Terry then led the Longhorns to a 22-8 record and their best postseason run in 15 years, including a Big 12 Tournament Championship – its second in conference history – and three wins in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 2-seeded Longhorns ultimately lost to No. 5 Miami (Fl.) 88-81 on Sunday.
Born and raised in Houston, Terry played basketball at St. Edward’s University in nearby Austin. He stayed on as an assistant at St. Edward’s and spent the next two decades coaching throughout Texas.
He was a longtime assistant under Rick Barnes from 2002 to 2011, before taking his first job out of state as head coach at Fresno State in California. He helped the Bulldogs break a 14-year NCAA Tournament dry spell and eventually returned to the Lonestar state as head coach at UTEP.
Sports
Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and more
Terry was rehired as an assistant at Texas under Beard in 2021, a position he held until Beard’s dismissal.
The news of Terry’s permanent promotion earned the congratulations of at least one famous former-player. Kevin Durant, who attended Texas from 2006-07, tweeted a message of support to his former assistant coach.
He inherits a program with equally as much momentum as question marks heading into the offseason.
Three of the five starters from this Elite Eight team have at least one year of eligibility but could test their luck in the upcoming NBA draft. The incoming recruiting class is ranked 25th, in part due to the fact that they only have two commits. But both are five stars and they could certainly make some major gains in the transfer portal.
