Rodney Terry proud of Texas roster for overcoming outside distractions

Texas basketball has been put through the wringer this year. The team soared out to a terrific start and looked like easily one of the best teams in the country before turmoil struck in the form of some pretty violent accusations against head coach Chris Beard. Of course, he was just recently fired for good, leaving assistant coach Rodney Terry to run the team the rest of the way.

Not an easy spot for Terry or the players, and the team has been inconsistent as a result. However, after letting up 116 points in regulation to Kansas State earlier in the week, the Longhorns responded this weekend by going on the road and beating Oklahoma State, 56-46. Terry was fired up over the win:

“I’m proud of our guys,” Terry said. “I said that to them the other day. Probably more than any other team in the country, this group here has really stuck together and they’ve persevered through some adversity and some challenges. They’ve stayed together. They’ve really focused on what they can control and I think just kind of locked in and enjoyed playing with each other and being around each other every day.”

Sure, the situation isn’t the best, but Rodney Terry says he still loves being around this group of guys.

“They have been a really fun group to continue to work with, and I still don’t think we have played our best basketball. I think our ceiling is still high for this team and everything. But I give those guys tremendous credit, because they have done it. I’ve said that to them, (but) we haven’t said that to them enough — how proud we are of them and what they have been able to do and not getting distracted by things that were out of their control.”

Rodney Terry on moving past Beard

Of course, Terry was asked about the emotions of getting such a big win in the immediate aftermath of losing the coach of the entire program. Here were his comments:

“Anytime you lose the leader of your program, it’s always a factor. Obviously, unfortunate circumstances in the situation, you know, that we’re all involved in. We love Coach Beard. This team set out with a mission and a goal on what they want to accomplish this year.

“They know that everything was still in front of them. They want to control, you know, what they can control. But they’ve been working every day, and it’s a long season. It’s a long season, and we’ll have this one (win at Oklahoma State) for one night. But again, it’s been a very resilient group in terms of just really staying the course – staying the course and working the process.”

Texas is still loaded with talent and has a strong leader in Terry now at the helm. This team may very well be competitive at the highest level still.