Texas Basketball: Where CBS Sports ranked the Rodney Terry hire

A busy start to the offseason for Texas basketball was kicked off by Rodney Terry getting the interim tag removed to become the new full-time head coach. Despite the controversy and turbulence that took place off the court last season, Terry still led Texas to its deepest postseason run in more than a decade.

Terry led the Longhorns to an appearance in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008 last season, before falling short to the five-seed Miami Hurricanes.

After keeping this Texas team together the way he did on and off the court down the stretch last season, Terry deservingly got his chance to be the next full-time men’s hoops head coach. He was rewarded for his efforts leading the Longhorns to a deep postseason run and a Big 12 Tournament title with a five-year contract worth $15.3 million early this offseason.

Moreover, there were a lot of ups and downs for Terry early in his tenure as the full-time head coach this offseason. He’s seen more than 80 percent of last season’s roster turnover, depending on what happens with freshman forward Dillon Mitchell and sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter.

CBS Sports writer low on Texas basketball hiring Rodney Terry as the full-time head coach

Both Hunter and Mitchell declared early for the 2023 NBA Draft. But both players could withdraw their names from the NBA Draft by early June.

All things considered, it’s interesting to see how the national college hoops media landscape views the hire of Terry as the full-time head coach for the Longhorns this offseason. David Cobb of CBS Sports recently graded some of the biggest coaching hires around college hoops this offseason, including Texas removing Terry’s interim tag.

Cobb graded Texas’ hire of Terry as the full-time head coach a B, which ranked in the lower tier among the dozen or so hirings that he analyzed. Only two head coaching hires were graded lower than Terry.

It is interesting that Cobb gave this hire a lower grade among those that he looked at in this piece considering his rhetoric on the situation at Texas.

"Terry deserved a chance at the full-time job after taking over for Chris Beard midseason. He guided Texas to a Big 12 Tournament title and the Elite Eight, but he wouldn’t have been the Longhorns’ first pick under normal circumstances."

Granted, it looks like the reservations that some Texas fans had regarding the idea of hiring Terry as the full-time head coach is something that weighed on Cobb’s mind when he graded this move by the Longhorns.

"Terry posted a 163-156 record across seven seasons at Fresno State and three at UTEP. That’s a respectable record at two difficult jobs but not the type of résumé that typically gets coaches into the mix for gigs like this."

It’s clear that the jury is still out on how we will ultimately look back on this move to remove Terry’s interim tag. But the fact of the matter is that he deserved a shot to see what he could do with the full-time gig for at least a couple of years with the magical postseason run he led the Longhorns on last season.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 29-9 (12-6 Big 12). Terry and the Longhorns are busy rebuilding the roster early this offseason, with four portal commits already added thus far. The highlight of the four portal commits for the Longhorns so far this offseason is the former Oral Roberts standout senior guard Max Abmas.