Report: Former Texas coach Rodney Terry lands scouting job with New Orleans Pelicans

The Texas Longhorns decided to part ways with men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry after two-plus seasons at the helm at the end of the 2024-25 season. Now, he’s headed to the NBA.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Terry will join the New Orleans Pelicans as a scout this season. He’ll also work as an analyst for ESPN in the meantime as well.

It’s a solid landing for Terry, whose ouster came after the Longhorns’ (19-16, 6-12 SEC) second-half collapse against Xavier in the 11-seeded First Four play-in game, falling 86-80 when their season ended in Dayton.

The one-and-done appearance in the 2025 NCAA Tournament simply wasn’t enough for Terry to remain at the helm. Texas backed into the 68-team field following a surprising run where they ended up in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal.

Making his third-straight March Madness appearance was welcomed, but it ultimately wasn’t nearly enough for the powers-that-be at Texas to save Terry’s job. Terry went 62-37 (.626 winning percentage) over what amounts to roughly two and 2/3rds seasons as the Texas headman after serving as interim coach for most of the 2022-23 season following the early-season departure of then-head coach Chris Beard after his since-dismissed domestic violence arrest in mid-December 2022.

Last season’s early March Madness exit ultimately proved to be Terry’s ultimate downfall. But it was a surprising Elite Eight appearance later that first season that helped Terry shed his interim title in late March 2023.

Terry and Texas went dancing despite some unfavorable metrics that included having the 52nd-ranked WAB (wins above bubble) which calculates the expected winning percentage for an average bubble team against the Longhorns’ schedule. Fellow “First Four Out” bubble teams, North Carolina and Ohio Stat,e ranked ahead of Texas.

That SEC Tournament run — which included a convincing win over 12th-seeded Vanderbilt in Round 1 and a double-overtime upset of rival and No. 14-ranked Texas A&M — boosted the Longhorns’ Tournament odds despite many bracketologists counting out Texas. But outside of a significant NCAA Tournament run, it was clear the writing was on the wall in Terry’s second full season, given Texas’ overall struggles with consistency. That included going 6-12 in SEC play.

Now, Texas turns its focus to its new head coach in Sean Miller. Meanwhile, Terry will focus on his new gigs, while awaiting his next coaching opportunity after his time in Austin came to an end.

— On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.