Rodney Eric Terry (born March 27, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach at Texas.
 Terry in 2017 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head Coach |
| Team | Texas |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 53–23 (.697) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | March 27, 1968 Angleton, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1986–1990 | St. Edward's |
| Position(s) | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1991 | St. Edward's (assistant) |
| 1991–1993 | Bowie HS (TX) (assistant) |
| 1993–1995 | Somerville HS (TX) |
| 1995–1996 | Angleton HS (TX) |
| 1996–1998 | Baylor (assistant) |
| 1998–2002 | UNC Wilmington (assistant) |
| 2002–2011 | Texas (assistant) |
| 2011–2018 | Fresno State |
| 2018–2021 | UTEP |
| 2021–2022 | Texas (assistant) |
| 2022–2023 | Texas (interim HC) |
| 2023–present | Texas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 216–179 (.547) (college) 64–34 (.653) (high school) |
| Tournaments | 4–3 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (NIT) 4–2 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Big 12 tournament (2023) MWC tournament (2016) | |
| Awards | |
| Sporting News Coach of the Year (2023) | |
Early life and education
editBorn in Angleton, Texas, Terry graduated from Angleton High School and played college basketball at St. Edward's University in Austin. Terry graduated from St. Edward's in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in physical education.[1]
Coaching career
editEarly career
editTerry began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Edward's in the 1990–91 season. Then, Terry became an assistant at James Bowie High School also in Austin, where he would remain from 1991 to 1993.[1]
After his stint at Bowie, Terry became a head coach for the first time at Somerville High School in Somerville, Texas. In his two seasons at Somerville (1993 to 1995), Terry went 49–21 and led Somerville to the Class 2A semifinals in 1994.[1] Terry returned to Angleton High School to be head coach in the 1995–96 season, during which he had a 15–13 record for a cumulative 64–34 high school coaching record.[1]
In 1996, Terry moved up to the major college level as an assistant at Baylor under Harry Miller. After two years at Baylor, Terry joined the staff of Jerry Wainwright as assistant coach at UNCW. During a stint that lasted from 1998 to 2002, Terry helped UNCW make the 2000 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments by way of winning the CAA Tournaments. As a #13 seed in 2002, UNCW upset #4 seed USC in the first round for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.[1]
On June 11, 2002, Terry joined Texas as an assistant coach under Rick Barnes. At Texas, Terry helped recruit McDonald's All-American players like Kevin Durant, D. J. Augustin, and Tristan Thompson. Texas also made NCAA Tournament runs to the Final Four in 2003 and to the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008.[1]
Fresno State
editTerry replaced Steve Cleveland as head coach at Fresno State on April 7, 2011.[2] Fresno State went 13–20 (3–11 Western Athletic Conference) in Terry's first season in 2011–12.[3] The following season in 2012–13, Fresno State moved to the Mountain West Conference (MW) and went 11–19.[4]
Fresno State went 21–18 and made the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2013–14 for the program's first 20-win season and postseason appearance since the 2006–07 season. Despite a 1–7 start, Fresno State finished 9–9 in MW play, an unprecedented finish in conference history.[5][6] Fresno State lost the CBI in three games to Siena.[6] In June 2014, Fresno State extended Terry's contract through 2017.[7]
Despite a 15–17 record in 2014–15, Fresno State improved to 10–8 in MW play and beat four teams that made that year's NCAA tournament: Boise State, San Diego State, UC Irvine, and Wyoming. On January 3, 2015, Fresno State beat #25 San Diego State for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2002.[5][8]
Terry led Fresno State to a 25–10 record, MW tournament title, and NCAA tournament auto-bid in the 2015–16 season. A #14 seed, Fresno State lost to #3 seed Utah in the first round 80-69.[9] Following a three-year extension and nearly $50,000 annual raise in January 2016, Fresno State extended Terry through the 2020–21 season in December 2016.[10][11]
UTEP
editOn March 12, 2018, Terry was named the new head coach of the University of Texas at El Paso men's basketball team.[12] Terry suffered an attack of anaphylactic shock due to an adverse reaction to medication and was hospitalized in late December 2019. He missed a game against Florida International on January 2, 2020, with assistant coach Kenton Paulino taking over for Terry. Terry was expected to make a full recovery.[13] After starting 8-1 to open the 2019–20 season, Terry and the Miners lost 14 out of their last 23 games.
On April 6, 2021, it was reported Terry would leave UTEP to return to Texas as an assistant under newly hired Chris Beard.
Texas
editTerry was named interim head coach for the Longhorns following Beard’s arrest for domestic violence on December 12, 2022. He would lead the team through the remainder of the season, guiding Texas to their second Big 12 tournament title, and the Longhorns' first appearance in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament since 2008.
On March 27, 2023, Terry was named the full-time head coach.
Personal life
editTerry is a Christian. He has said, “There’s only one person that’s going to judge you. He gave His only Son to us to be able to forgive us of our sins. I live by that every day, and I have strong faith and strong belief. …”[14]
Popular culture
editSince Texas made its run in the NCAA Tournament, there have been frequent references to Terry's resemblance to Giancarlo Esposito's Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul character Gus Fring.[15]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno State Bulldogs (Western Athletic Conference) (2011–2012) | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | Fresno State | 13–20 | 3–11 | 7th | |||||
| Fresno State Bulldogs (Mountain West Conference) (2012–2018) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | Fresno State | 11–19 | 5–11 | 6th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Fresno State | 21–18 | 9–9 | T–5th | CBI Runner-up | ||||
| 2014–15 | Fresno State | 15–17 | 10–8 | 6th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Fresno State | 25–10 | 13–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Fresno State | 20–13 | 11–7 | 4th | NIT first round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Fresno State | 21–11 | 11–7 | T–4th | |||||
| Fresno State: | 126–108 (.538) | 62–58 (.517) | |||||||
| UTEP Miners (Conference USA) (2018–2021) | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | UTEP | 8–21 | 3–15 | 14th | |||||
| 2019–20 | UTEP | 17–15 | 8–10 | 11th | |||||
| 2020–21 | UTEP | 12–12 | 8–8 | 5th (West) | |||||
| UTEP: | 37–48 (.435) | 19–33 (.365) | |||||||
| Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (2022–2024) | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | Texas | 22–8[a] | 12–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 2023–24 | Texas | 21–13 | 9–9 | T–7th | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| Texas Longhorns (Southeastern Conference) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Texas | 10–2 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Texas: | 53–23 (.697) | 21–15 (.583) | |||||||
| Total: | 216–179 (.547) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- ^ Served as interim head coach after Chris Beard was indefinitely suspended and later fired.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Rodney Terry". University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on April 19, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ Lyght, Daniel (April 7, 2011). "Terry named Fresno State men's basketball coach". Fresno Bee. Archived from the original on April 9, 2011.
- ^ "2011-12 Fresno State Bulldogs Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com/cbb. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ "2012-13 Fresno State Bulldogs Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com/cbb. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ a b "Rodney Terry". Fresno State. August 22, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ a b "2013-14 Fresno State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com/cbb. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ Norland, Matt (June 17, 2014). "Rodney Terry earns three-year extension at Fresno State". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- ^ "2014-15 Fresno State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com/cbb. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ "2015-16 Fresno State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com/cbb. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ "Rodney Terry finalizes Fresno State extension". Fresno Bee. December 22, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- ^ Kuwada, Robert (May 12, 2016). "Fresno State close to contract extension with coach Rodney Terry". Fresno Bee. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
- ^ Broaddus, Adrian (March 12, 2018). "UTEP hires Fresno State's Rodney Terry as their new basketball coach". theprospectordaily.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ^ Borzello, Jeff (January 3, 2020). "UTEP coach Rodney Terry released from hospital". ESPN. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Doering, Joshua. "Man of 'strong faith' Rodney Terry named Texas head coach after leading team to Elite Eight". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ "Rodney Terry a Gus Fring lookalike? Texas coach draws comparisons to 'Breaking Bad' actor Giancarlo Esposito". The Sporting News. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
