By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-24 00:46:23 | Updated at 2025-03-25 19:54:26
1 day ago
After speculation began circulating last week that Texas was set to move on from head basketball coach Rodney Terry, the news of his firing came in the early afternoon on Sunday.
Terry, who had coached Texas to a 19-15 record in the toughest basketball conference in America, coached his Longhorns to a defeat in the First Four in Dayton last Wednesday.
That loss came at the hands of the Xavier Musketeers, coached by Sean Miller.
And then, the bombshell. Just hours after the news of Terry's firing, multiple reports revealed that Miller - fresh off his own March Madness defeat to Illinois on Friday - would be moving down to Austin to take the Texas job.
Miller, who began his head coaching career with Xavier in 2004, will now leave the school once again. This time, it will likely not be on the same amicable terms.
When he left the first time, it came off the back of bringing Xavier to four-straight NCAA Tournaments - with an Elite Eight and a Sweet 16 in his final two years.
Xavier head basketball coach Sean Miller is set to depart the team for the job at Texas
The news came just hours after Texas revealed that they would move on from Rodney Terry
Last Tuesday, Miller defeated Texas in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament
He departed for a much bigger gig: the vaunted job at Arizona that he held for 12 years. In his time with the Wildcats, he reached the Elite Eight three times and the Sweet 16 twice.
But after missing the tournament two years in a row (with the cancelled 2020 tournament in between), he was let go from the team.
So, he returned to Cincinnati to coach the Musketeers back to the Sweet 16 in his first season. They got back to the tournament this year, posting a 22-12 record overall.
But now, Miller leaves once again - this time much more sudden for a team that has a massive athletic department war chest and not nearly as much basketball pedigree.
Texas may have boasted the likes of Kevin Durant. But since he took the team to the Elite Eight in 2008, the Longhorns have only made it that far in March Madness once. They haven't made a Final Four in 22 years.
This is not the first time that Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has poached the coach of the team that eliminated the Longhorns in a postseason tournament.
Just last year in baseball, the Longhorns were eliminated from the College Station (TX) regional of their respective tournament by fierce rivals Texas A&M.
After denying rumors that he would swap the Aggies for the Longhorns, Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle took the Texas job just one day after TAMU was eliminated from the College World Series.
