Texas men’s basketball has parted ways with head coach Rodney Terry, the university announced on Sunday.
Terry was named the interim head coach for the Longhorns during the 2022-2023 season amidst the mid-season firing of now-Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. Terry led the Longhorns to the Big 12 Tournament title and the Elite Eight during his interim season.
The Longhorns elevated Terry to full-time head coach but Texas saw its win-loss record fall over the next two seasons. Terry’s team went 21-13 in 2023-2024 and finished this past season with a 19-16 record.
Terry’s name has been widely mentioned in Knoxville over the past few years with the frequent meetings between the Volunteers and Longhorns on the court. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and Terry have a shared history dating back to a long tenure together in Austin.
With Barnes as the Texas head coach in the early 2000s, Terry was brought in as an assistant coach before the 2002-2003 season. Barnes and Terry spent nine seasons together at Texas, recruiting and coaching players such as Kevin Durant, Tristan Thompson, and D.J. Augustin. Terry would eventually take a head coaching job at Fresno State in Spring 2011, but the two had made a lifelong bond as Longhorn coaches.
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Tennessee and Texas have met up five times since Terry’s hiring with Barnes’ Volunteers having the 4-1 advantage with four straight wins, most recently in the season’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals after the Longhorns upset 5-seed Texas A&M to get to the Friday game. Tennessee won the game by a score of 83-72 in Bridgestone Arena.
“They’re not,” Barnes said after the tournament game about whether coaching games against Terry is fun. “They’re really not.”
Each team has a win in Austin while Tennessee also has wins in Knoxville (2023), Charlotte (2024 NCAA Tournament), and Nashville (2025 SEC Tournament).
“It’s tough, because you know what, we won a lot of games at Texas,” Barnes continued on to say about Terry after the Vols’ win. “Those guys were a huge, huge part of it. I look at [Texas] this year. I mean, coming into a new league, had to be an adjustment for them and Oklahoma. The fact that both of those teams, at the end of the year, playing high-level basketball. I know Rodney this year struggled with some injuries, trying to work in a super talent like he has in Tre Johnson is tough.”
In three seasons at Texas, Terry racked up a 62-37 (.628) record with a trip to the Elite Eight in 2023, a loss in the Round of 32 to Tennessee in 2024, and a First Four exit against Xavier in 2025.
Terry was named the Sporting News Coach of the Year after his interim season in 2023.
Texas is hiring Xavier head coach Sean Miller as Terry’s replacement, On3’s Matt Norlander reported on Sunday afternoon.
“I am so appreciative to have served The University of Texas and our men’s basketball program for 13 seasons,” Terry said in a statement from Texas on Sunday. “It was a dream of mine to be the head coach of the Longhorns, and I’ve been able to live that dream. I want to thank all of our coaches and current and former players who not only helped us win a lot of games, but more importantly represented this great university in a first-class manner. Thank you to Longhorn Nation, our student section “The Corral,” and all of our wonderful donors and supporters who have been consistently great to me and our program. I’ll forever be a Longhorn.”
BREAKING: Texas has informed head coach Rodney Terry he’s been fired, sources told ESPN. Terry led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in 2023 and made NCAA tournament appearances in each of the last two seasons. pic.twitter.com/fJ3UsiDCIt
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 23, 2025
