Texas Men’s Basketball Coach Rodney Terry On The Hot Seat?
The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team might be the next program to see a coaching adjustment if things don’t start looking up under head coach Rodney Terry.
Texas enters its final game of the regular season on Saturday against rival Oklahoma at a 17-13 overall record and 6-11 in conference play. A win at home to finish out the schedule will be necessary if Terry wants to guide his team through the NCAA Tournament, but fans have seemingly already lost hope.
On3 reporter and analyst Pete Nakos shares this disappointment, and named Terry to his most recent college basketball hot seat watch list.
Terry stepped in as the interim head coach in December of 2022 following Chris Beard’s firing and led the Longhorns in a deep postseason run, making it all the way to the Elite Eight. Texas hired him shortly after and has now gone 60-34 across three seasons under Terry, including his time as interim.
Last season, Texas survived through the second round of the March Madness tournament, but this year, the Longhorns may not even make it through the first. The most recent Bracketology report by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Texas to be one of the first four to exit this season’s tournament, which would only feed the fire of Terry being next to see the door.
Despite being gifted one of the top college basketball players in the nation with Tre Johnson, Terry has struggled to put together a consistent plan for the Longhorns. Texas has dropped games to mediocre teams while upsetting ranked conference opponents such as Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, and most recently Mississippi State, and has yet to hold a ranking itself.
Injuries to some key playmakers, such as forward Arthur Kaluma and most notably guard Chendall Weaver, have arguably hindered Texas from performing at its best, but it is still no excuse for the lack of excitement surrounding the program.
Terry has begun to deal with the pressure of an upset Longhorns fanbase, receiving pregame “boos” ahead of Texas’ contest against Alabama back in February.
When asked about the hate he’s been given, Terry said his attention remains on the team.
“I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff,” Terry said during a postgame press conference. “To me personally, I’m all about trying to get my team better. It’s about focusing on those guys, focused on what we have to do as a program to continue to stay the course and keep working. I don’t get caught up in outside noise. If I’m worried about what people are saying or this or that, that’s not my job.”
Texas must win out against Oklahoma on Saturday in order to cling onto any security in the NCAA Tournament and Terry’s future. The Longhorns take on the Sooners at 7 p.m. CT at the Moody Center.
