Terry’s ‘calming voice’ refocused Horns
DES MOINES, Iowa — Rodney Terry didn’t have long to sit with the shock the morning of Dec. 12.
As dawn broke that day, then-Texas head coach Chris Beard was being held in the Travis County Jail on a charge of third-degree felony domestic violence. As the details of what allegedly transpired traversed the country, it became increasingly likely the vaunted programbuilder who dumped Texas Tech to return to his alma mater in April 2021 had coached his last game at Texas.
Terry didn’t allow himself to fixate on a nebulous future. And he couldn’t let the Longhorns spiral. He was Beard’s chosen right hand, the co-head coach in all but name. Texas was scheduled to play Rice at 7 p.m. that night, and it fell to Terry to get the Lonhgorns prepared.
To that end, Terry gathered the team’s six elder rotation players and sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter for an open discussion early that morning. Everyone spoke through their confusion and uncertainty, aired it all out.
That night, Texas outlasted Rice in an 87-81 overtime win in front of a restrained crowd at the Moody Center. It would be the first of 19 wins (and counting) with Terry serving as interim head coach.
“He was a calming voice in a weird situation that morning, and he did an amazing job,” graduate forward Brock Cunningham said of Terry on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena. “And the older guys did a great job in leading the rest of the team, saying there is a task at hand, winning games, and that’s the most important thing.”
Texas has won plenty since Terry took over for Beard, who was ultimately fired Jan. 5 for cause. The felony charge was dropped Feb. 15, and Beard was formally introduced Tuesday as Mississippi’s new head coach.
It’s clear, with Midwest Region No. 2 seed Texas (26-8) preparing to play No. 15 seed Colgate (26-8) on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, that the man who enticed this group to play in burnt orange is far from mind.
“We have big goals in mind, and we know that starts with Colgate,” fifthyear senior forward Timmy Allen said Wednesday. “We’re not looking past anybody and worrying about any game but our first game.”
The last time a Texas team entered the NCAA field with such astronomical expectations, Rick Barnes was the head coach, Terry was his lead assistant and D.J. Augustin was arguably the best guard in the country. Yeah, it’s been awhile.
There are myriad reasons Texas is such a trendy Final Four pick despite its failure to advance to even the Sweet 16 since that 2008 team led by Augustin.
Terry’s steady stewardship is one. Those veterans represent another. For the analytics gurus, the Longhorns are one of four teams among the top 20 in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. And the secret weapon is depth, with Terry embracing a nine-man rotation that features Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Sir’Jabari Rice off the bench.
The Longhorns managed to win last week’s Big 12 tournament even without Allen, a two-year starter who sat out to allow his lower right leg injury to heal.
Texas beat Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas over three days in Kansas City, Mo. The Longhorns worked over the Jayhawks in their 20-point championship game win, their second double-digit victory over Kansas in the span of eight days.
Routing the West Region’s top seed twice in seven days is mighty impressive. So is the Longhorns’ season-length résumé, which also contains wins over fellow Tournament teams Gonzaga, Creighton, Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State, West Virginia (twice) and TCU (twice).
The players deserve all the praise and accolades that come their way. But ask any one of them about this season, and he’ll get right to extolling Terry.
“When looking at a coach, I look at how the players respond to him, how they’re connected to him, how they play for him, and if he’s a player’s type of coach,” Allen said. “That’s exactly what coach Terry is. We all love playing for him, man. People respond to him well. And that’s what you want in a coach: a leader in life and on the basketball court. And all in all, winning tells.”