Terry, still wearing the Longhorns’ interim tag, named National Coach of the Year by the Sporting News
Texas interim basketball coach Rodney Terry added to an already impressive resume when he was named the men’s College Basketball National Coach of the Year by the Sporting News, the publication announced Wednesday morning.
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Terry, who took over for the suspended and then fired Chris Beard in December, is the first coach in Longhorns’ men’s basketball program history to earn the prestigious honor.
The award is presented annually to the best men’s Division I college basketball head coach. The honor was initially bestowed following the 1963-64 campaign by Sporting News, a US-based sports magazine that dates to 1886.
Terry was named the Longhorns’ acting head coach a few hours prior to the Dec. 12 home game against Rice and was elevated to interim head coach for the remainder of the season on Jan. 5.
Texas (23-8, 12-6 in Big 12 play) has won 16 of its 23 games since Terry took the helm, including five victories over AP Top 25 opponents. Texas is 7-1 under Terry in games decided by five points or less or in overtime.
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The Longhorns are currently ranked seventh in the AP poll and earned the second seed in this week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, marking their highest seed at the league’s postseason tourney since 2011 (also a 2 seed). Texas’ 23 regular-season victories are the most for the program since the 2010-11 season (25-6).
Texas will play either seventh-seeded Oklahoma State or 10th-seeded Oklahoma in the second round of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday. The Longhorns are forecast as a second or third seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
The Sporting News’ award announcement came a day after Terry was named a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award and the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award, both by College Insider.
The Phelan Award annually goes to the nation’s top Division I coach while the Jobe Award is presented annually to the top Division I minority coach. Both awards will be announced later this month in Houston, site of this year’s NCAA Final Four.
