Tag: NCAA Tournament results

Report: Texas to offer head coaching position to Rodney Terry

Rodney Terry is expected to be the head coach of the Texas men’s basketball program.

Rodney Terry is expected to be the head coach of the Texas men’s basketball program. Reports circulated Sunday night that the Longhorns are expected to extend an offer to Terry following a strong season.

Texas finished the year 29-9 after advancing to its first Elite Eight in around 15 years. Three NCAA Tournament wins all but solidified Terry as the top candidate for the program.

We discussed the strong likelihood of his return last week. I called Terry the coach of the present and the future despite outside clamor over the lack of a contract extension for the new head coach. The athletic department looks to be silencing the noise.

The toughest season, and offseason for that matter, will likely be the first for Terry. Texas is set to lose Marcus Carr, Sir’Jabari Rice, Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop. The team could also lose Dylan Disu.

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The Longhorns need to win the transfer portal once again. It will likely take adding an impact guard and at least two post players. It appears Terry will get his shot. Now he must pass the next test.

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Miami ends Texas’ NCAA Tournament run, wins 87-81

A lackadaisical effort ends a terrific season for Texas basketball.

Miami is going to the Final Four. They do so at the expense of the Texas Longhorns.

Texas had an abhorrent day on both sides of the ball with lackadaisical ball security and low intelligence defensive play. Longhorn players got lulled to sleep defensively and Miami made them pay.

The Longhorns held as much as a 13-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. From there, the team posted the most passive second half performance of the year.

Miami outscored Texas by 20 points in the final 12:37 of the game. Hurricanes guard Jordan Miller shot a scorching 7-for-7 from the field plus 13-of-13 from the free throw line to allow for consistent scoring. From there, Hurricanes star guard Isaiah Wong closed out the game.

In a rare occurrence, Texas head coach Rodney Terry got out-coached by his counterpart, Jim Larranaga. With that, the Longhorns’ impressive 2022-23 basketball season comes to an end.

Texas finishes with a 29-9 record on the year. Miami advances to face the Connecticut Huskies in the Final Four.

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LOOK: Texas HC Steve Sarkisian in Kansas City for Elite Eight game

Steve Sarkisian is in attendance for the Elite Eight game.

Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian is in the house for No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Miami. He will look to root the team on to its first Final Four appearance since 2003.

Sarkisian was seen with University of Texas President Jay Hartzell and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte ahead of one of the biggest basketball games in program history. He’ll hope the program can see the same result former Texas head coach Tom Herman saw for his new school, Florida Atlantic.

Head basketball coach Rodney Terry has a tremendous opportunity against the Hurricanes. The winner of the game enters a Final Four that includes San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. One of those two smaller schools will play in the National Championship game.

Texas is the only top three seed remaining after the No. 4 Connecticut Huskies defeated No. 3 Gonzaga Saturday night. The scenario is a golden opportunity for the Longhorns to push for a first ever national title in men’s basketball.

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Social media reacts to delayed contract for Texas HC Rodney Terry

Joey Hickey believes Rodney Terry is the head coach of the present and future for Texas.

Rodney Terry has yet to have been announced as the permanent head coach for the Texas Longhorns basketball program. In my opinion, he doesn’t need to be announced. This is Terry’s program. It goes without saying.

Terry piloted perhaps the best regular season in Austin since 2003. He is well on his way to the best postseason since that year. Just three times have the Longhorns reached the Final Four (1943, 1947, 2003). Nearly 20 years later, Terry and company are one win over No. 5 seed Miami away from making it back to college basketball’s biggest stage.

Never mind the positive news. College basketball media have made Terry’s perceived lack of job security a major storyline of the NCAA Tournament.

I find it hard to fathom that Texas could go with any other coach but Rodney Terry. Looking at the last few results, perhaps the only question is how much money Terry will make and for how many years.

We could certainly be wrong. In which case, I’ll be the first to call out Texas for moving on from a terrific coach. But until we have tangible proof that the Longhorns are heading in another direction, any coaching controversy talk is premature.

Here’s a look at college sports media commentary on the head coaching position.

Texas sends Xavier packing, advances to Elite Eight with 83-71 win

Texas will face the Miami Hurricanes Sunday with a chance to reach its first Final Four since 2003.

For the first time since 2008, the Texas Longhorns are headed to the Elite Eight. Interim head coach Rodney Terry and company won in dominant fashion.

The Longhorns never trailed in the game after a fast 8-2 start. Texas point guard Marcus Carr led the scoring charge early with 18 points on the game. While the Texas offense was scorching hot, the effort on the defensive end may have won the game for the Longhorns.

Xavier shot 43.8% from the field. It didn’t feel like the percentage was that high. Musketeer post player Jack Nunge shot a woeful 6-for-19 on field goal attempts, many of which were layups or in close range. The strong defensive performance by Texas occurred for the most part without Dylan Disu, who suffered a lower body injury early.

Tyrese Hunter finished with the highest mark totaling 19 points for the game. Christian Bishop followed with 18 of his own, with Sir’Jabari Rice adding 16 points for the team.

Texas will face the Miami Hurricanes Sunday with a chance to reach its first Final Four since 2003.

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Dick Vitale criticizes Texas for delaying in hiring Rodney Terry

Dick Vitale goes too far in his criticism of Texas’ athletic department.

Dick Vitale is not impressed by Texas’ long wait to hire Rodney Terry. He tweeted as much in a strongly worded statement on the athletic department’s delay.

Lack of class by Texas athletic board. I can buy waiting until the end of the regular season on the status of ⁦Rodney Terry. However after winning ⁦the Big 12 conference title, he deserved a multi-year deal.

That’s one way to put it. Albeit, Vitale’s take on the situation is probably too strong given Terry’s lack of proven track record prior through ten seasons as a Division I head coach.

We discussed Terry as having proven himself by winning two NCAA Tournament games. Terry did just that in reaching the Sweet 16. However, prior to those wins he had yet to put together the postseason resume to command the coaching job. Winning Big 12 Tournament titles is great, but Shaka Smart did that, too.

Texas hired former head coach Chris Beard to bring in a proven commodity. In Beard, the Longhorns had a coach who had won games in the tournament that mattered. Now that Terry has advanced in tournament play, he is more than qualified to be the coach of the future.

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College basketball analyst Andy Katz power ranks Texas, Sweet 16 teams

Texas checks in toward the top of the Andy Katz Sweet 16 power rankings.

The Texas Longhorns remain one of the best teams left in the NCAA Tournament. College basketball analyst Andy Katz ranked the Longhorns No. 3 out of the remaining 16 teams.

Texas head coach Rodney Terry and company survived the dangerous Penn State shooting attack winning 71-66. They did so without much help from the three-point line. The Longhorns shot a putrid 1-for-13 from long range adding to the degree of difficulty to pull off a win. Perhaps they earned style points by winning with far below average three point shooting.

Two No. 1 and 2 seeds have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. No. 1 seed Purdue became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64-plus teams. No. 2 seed Arizona fell prey to Princeton, who advances to the Sweet 16. Kansas and Marquette fell out of contention in second round losses to Arkansas and Michigan State.

Here’s a look at how Andy Katz views the remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament.

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Kansas State joins Texas to represent Big 12 in the Sweet 16

Jerome Tang scoffed at Kentucky’s “tradition,” after K-State joined Texas in the Sweet 16.

Kansas State followed Texas to the Sweet 16 on Sunday with a win over the Kentucky Wildcats, 75-69. K-State head coach Jerome Tang had interesting comments about Kentucky after the huge win.

Tang said the following about his team’s win over Kentucky.

Well you know, we have a program that’s rich in tradition also. You know, all those old dudes that played for Kentucky, they ain’t coming back. Tradition does not help you if you don’t go out there and play with some dudes. And we had more dudes than they did today.

Few college basketball fans, if any, consider Kansas State anywhere near a blue blood program. Even so, the point Tang makes resonates with fans of underachieving programs. You’re only as good as your current team and coach. Kentucky coach John Calipari might be the better recruiter, but it’s evident Tang is the better talent optimizer.

Texas and Kansas State still stand as potential Final Four representatives for the Big 12 Conference.

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Former Texas coach Shaka Smart loses heartbreaker to Michigan State

After a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State, Shaka falls to 1-8 in his last nine NCAA Tournament games.

Marquette head coach Shaka Smart is a likable coach. Nevertheless, his struggles continued in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Smart and his team lost in heartbreaking fashion to Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans. There’s no shame in losing to one of college basketball’s best coaches. There is shame in how he lost.

Late into the game, Shaka used the first fifteen seconds of a TV timeout to have his team participate in a breathing exercise. The interesting use of time makes one wonder what usually goes on during long NCAA Tournament timeouts. Presumably, Tom Izzo used the time more productively.

There has been discussion as to whether or not Texas adequately valued Smart or made a mistake in firing him. We can put that discussion to rest.

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Shaka proved he could build and lead a quality team this season, but this year’s final result left something to be desired. Smart will look to build on a strong regular season after a tough season-ending loss.

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Texas head coach Rodney Terry simply gets it done in March

Rodney Terry ain’t it? Nah, he’s “it.”

Texas head coach Rodney Terry did more over the last week than he did in his time prior as the Longhorns’ leader. Terry won two NCAA Tournament games.

I have marveled at the notion some have put forth, that NCAA Tournament results don’t matter. Some assert it would be irresponsible to make a decision based on one or two random results in the tournament. In reality, coaches have significant impact over tournament results because of long TV timeouts and halftimes in which they can strategize.

Frankly, it would be far more unpredictable to hire Terry before getting it done in March. Until this season, he had made one NCAA Tournament appearance in ten seasons as a head coach. Like it or not, he had to prove he could win in the tournament. That’s exactly what Terry did on Saturday.

The Longhorns are going to the Sweet 16 and Rodney Terry is a huge reason for their success. The questions over whether or not he can win in the NCAA Tournament are gone. Now, he sets out to prove how far he can take the team in March.

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