Texas fires head men's basketball coach Rodney Terry after loss in First Four

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas head men's basketball coach Rodney Terry was fired Sunday after the Longhorns lost to Xavier in the First Four of the men's NCAA Tournament on Wednesday.

Terry completed his second full season as the program's head coach with a 19-16 record, 6-12 in Southeastern Conference play, and a first-round exit in the SEC tournament.

Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte said while Terry "led the program in a first-class manner," it was time to make a change.

"This was a very difficult decision and one that we put a great deal of thought, consideration and discussion into as we evaluated where we are as a men’s basketball program," Del Conte said. "He did a tremendous job in his first season helping to manage a very difficult situation, and we’re truly grateful for that. We appreciate all he’s done for our student-athletes and program and wish him the best in the future."

Terry signed a 5-year contract worth $15.3 million in March 2023 after taking the reins as head coach following Chris Beard's firing for a domestic violence charge that the Travis County district attorney later dropped. Terry said it was "a dream of mine to be the head coach of the Longhorns."

"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," he said in a statement through the university. "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."

The current buyout in his contract is around $5.3 million.

Terry went 22-8 as interim head coach and guided the team to the Elite Eight, finishing the season with a 29-9 record. The effort earned Terry the 2023 Sporting News national coach of the year award, making him the first Texas coach to win it. After that, however, the Longhorns' season records got worse.

Texas went 21-13 in Terry's first full season as the head coach last year, losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Tennessee and his former boss, Rick Barnes. Terry was an assistant coach at Texas for Barnes from 2002-2011 before getting his first head coaching job at Fresno State starting in 2011.

After finishing 9-9 in their last year in the Big 12 Conference, Texas joined the SEC and was part of 14 teams from the conference to make the tournament, the most ever for a single conference.

Terry finished with a 62-37 record at Texas.