Rodney Terry expresses excitement for support from former Texas players

Texas interim coach Rodney Terry expressed a lot of excitement to get support from former Longhorns players.

With Texas on the precipice of the Elite Eight, there are shades of the 2008 team that got to that point. Players from that squad reached out to Terry about the job he did this season after he took over Chris Beard early in the year.

It certainly sounded like the Longhorns coach was extremely appreciative.

“When you sign up to be a part of your program, they’re part of your family for life,” Terry said. “I think that’s just, again, just a reflection of your lifelong relationships that you have with your players. You don’t just coach guys for four years and you’re still not a part of their lives.

“You’re going to be at their weddings. You’re going to call them and talk to them when they have their first kids. I think I’ve always tried to do a great job of staying in my former players’ lives and still being a part of what they’re doing and investing in those guys as a true extension of my family as well. So I think that just kind of speaks volumes to those relationships.”

With the job Terry did throughout the year, some questioned why he was not named the permanent head coach of the Longhorns.

“I’ll be honest with you, we’ve really just — from the time that I was named acting head coach, I’ve really just poured a lot into these guys,” Terry said. “They’re a great group of guys I’ve had a chance to work with every single day and really have tried to instill in those guys, much like how I approach life in terms of just being an everyday guy, living where your feet are, living in the present, and again controlling what you can control.

“Our administration has been great to me. They’ve done an incredible job backing myself, our staff, and being very supportive with our team. Really at the end of the day, we’ve just tried to handle what was in front of us, 40 minutes by 40 minutes. We’re blessed enough to be here in the NCAA Tournament and playing in the second weekend, and we’ve got an incredible challenge ahead with Xavier, who’s a well-coached team as well. We’re just excited about where we are right now, living in the moment.”

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Texas takes on Xavier Friday in the Sweet 16.