 Terry in 2017 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1968-03-27)March 27, 1968 (age 56) 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) |
| 2023–2025 | Texas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 225–193 (.538) (college) 64–34 (.653) (high school) |
| Tournaments | 4–4 (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) | |
Rodney Eric Terry (born March 27, 1968) is an Americancollege basketball coach who was most recently the head men's basketball head coach at theUniversity of Texas at Austin.
Born inAngleton, Texas, Terry graduated fromAngleton High School and played college basketball atSt. Edward's University inAustin, where he was the all-time leading scorer (record still stands as of 2025). Terry graduated from St. Edward's in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in physical education.[1]
Terry began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Edward's in the 1990–91 season. Then, Terry became an assistant atJames 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 atSomerville High School inSomerville, Texas. In his two seasons at Somerville (1993 to 1995), Terry went 49–21 and led Somerville to theClass 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 atBaylor underHarry Miller. After two years at Baylor, Terry joined the staff ofJerry Wainwright as assistant coach atUNCW. During a stint that lasted from 1998 to 2002, Terry helped UNCW make the2000 and2002 NCAA Tournaments by way of winning theCAA Tournaments. As a #13 seed in 2002, UNCW upset #4 seedUSC in the first round for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.[1]
On June 11, 2002, Terry joinedTexas as an assistant coach underRick Barnes. At Texas, Terry helped recruitMcDonald's All-American players likeKevin Durant,D. J. Augustin, andTristan Thompson. Texas also made NCAA Tournament runs to the Final Four in2003 and to the Elite Eight in2006 and2008.[1]
Terry replacedSteve Cleveland as head coach atFresno State on April 7, 2011.[2] Fresno State went 13–20 (3–11Western Athletic Conference) in Terry's first season in 2011–12.[3] The following season in 2012–13, Fresno State moved to theMountain West Conference (MW) and went 11–19.[4]
Fresno State went 21–18 and made theCollege 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 toSiena.[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 madethat 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, andNCAA tournament auto-bid in the 2015–16 season. A #14 seed, Fresno State lost to #3 seedUtah 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]
On March 12, 2018, Terry was named the new head coach of theUniversity of Texas at El Paso men's basketball team.[12] Terry suffered an attack ofanaphylactic shock due to an adverse reaction to medication and was hospitalized in late December 2019. He missed a game againstFlorida International on January 2, 2020, with assistant coachKenton 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 hiredChris Beard.
Terry 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 secondBig 12 tournament title, and the Longhorns' first appearance in the Elite Eight round of theNCAA tournament since 2008.
On March 27, 2023, Terry was named the full-time head coach.
Terry would lead Texas to the NCAA tournament in all three seasons at the helm, advancing to the round of 32 in 2024 in addition to the aforementioned Elite Eight appearance. After losing theFirst Four game againstXavier in 2025, he was let go by the program.
Terry is aChristian. 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]
Since Texas made its run in the NCAA Tournament, there have been frequent references to Terry's resemblance toGiancarlo Esposito'sBreaking Bad &Better Call Saul characterGus Fring.[15]
| 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 | 19–16 | 6–12 | T–13th | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
| Texas: | 62–37 (.626) | 27–27 (.500) | |||||||
| Total: | 225–193 (.538) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
