Everything Texas Longhorns Coach Rodney Terry Said at SEC Media Days

Texas Longhorns men's basketball head coach Rodney Terry took his turn at the podium at SEC Media Days.

Oct 15, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- Texas Longhorns men's basketball head coach Rodney Terry spoke with reporters at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, AL. on Tuesday as the program gets set for its first season in the conference.

Here's what he had to say:

Opening statement

"It's a great day to be alive. I said that to my guys this morning. We practice every morning, and it's the first thing I say to our guys, because it truly is a great day to be alive. Every day, to get a chance to do what we have a passion to do, in terms of myself coaching them, getting a chance to play, continue to educate themselves and be a more well-rounded person. So it is truly a great day to be alive. We're excited about joining the SEC. It's a league that I know our fan base is super excited about. I'd be remiss, though, not to thank the Big 12 for our 28 years. I was a part of the first year of the Big 12 as an assistant at Baylor University. We had some great years in that league, but we're excited about where we're going and what we're doing as we embark on a new journey in terms of our basketball slate in the SEC. Have a tremendous amount of respect for (SEC Men's Basketball Associate Commissioner) Garth (Glissman) and Commissioner (Greg) Sankey. They've done an incredible job with their leadership, building the premier basketball league in the country. So getting a chance to compete in this league from top to bottom, leaving the Big 12, it's not gonna be any kind of drop off. We have great coaches, you have great players, we have great venues in this league, and we're super excited about being a part of it. I think, in terms of the media, I like to think that we're going to have a program that's very accessible to myself, being very accessible to you guys, my players, being accessible to you guys on a regular basis, and again, just trying to be very forefront in terms of what we bring to the table every day, and having a lot of Integrity with what we do and how we do it."

On facing Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard

"Chris Beard and I go way, way back. You're talking about 25 years of friendship, one of my really, really close friends in the business. I wouldn't have this opportunity here in Texas if he wasn't kind enough to bring me back to Texas. Previously, I was with Rick Barnes for nine years at Texas and got a chance to come back and embark on a second stint at Texas, and with the hope that we're going to get a chance to build a national championship team, a team that gets a chance to play on Monday night. But he and I, our friendship, we're still really close. Right now, we're still talking, communicating at a high level. Talk about other opponents other than ourselves, things of that nature. But you talk about a great person and a great coach, Chris Beard's that kind of guy.

Oct 15, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

On building a foundation in the second year at the helm

"This league, I think we're built for it in terms of our culture. Think it's a league (where) there's going to be nights where you have to be really physical, there being nights where you got to really try to score the basketball. They're going to be nights where you have to really take care of the basketball, and from top to bottom, there are no nights off in this league. I alluded to the fact earlier that they're great coaches. Coaches have taken their teams to the Final Four, and there's been great players in this league, and obviously a lot of really good, intimate environments to play in that will be great venues."

On Arkansas transfer Tramon Mark

"Well, I'm a native Texan. I've seen Tramon play a long time. I remember when he was in the eighth grade and he was coming up, and my dad coached at his high school that he played in that year his high school years, but my dad got fired from that job and didn't get a chance to coach Tramon, but knew he was a really good young talent. I've seen him for a very, very long time. He's a youngster who has tremendous size, athleticism. He can go create his own shot. He can create for his teammates. Very good, high IQ basketball player. He's had a chance to compete, be coached by some really good coaches. So he's been coached very well. He's had a chance to start on a Final Four team at the University of Houston. So he's a guy that you know we look to bring a lot of experience, a guy that plays on both ends of the floor. He's a really good offensive player, but he's also a really good defensive player as well. So you talk about a guy that we like to think that's going to be a great two-way player for us."

Julian Larry runs the offensive play during a practice session that was held at the Moody Center for the local media. Sports writers got their first glimpse of the 2024-25 team at this event. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On transfers Julian Larry and Jayson Kent

"We're a team that returns six returners for us from last year, so we've got a little bit of continuity from last year. We have six new guys from the portal, and we have four freshmen. So we've got a great blend, great mix, and add the two guys from Indiana State. Jayson played there two years. Julian got a chance to play four years there. You talk about two guys that are really, really familiar with each other. When they're on the floor, they're really in sync together all the time, whether it be from an offensive standpoint, defensive standpoint, but I think the two guys too, that come into this season with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, they didn't get a chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, they went and had a deep run in the NIT where they played in the finals and lost in the NIT. I think, again, two guys that are getting a chance to play at this level for the first time. They're not entitled. They're excited about every day. They're excited about competing on this on this stage, and showing people that they can compete at the highest level. So I'm excited about what those guys bring to the table. Julian Larry is a guy who comes in and he brings a lot of energy and a lot of joy to our team every day with just his energy and presence on both ends of the floor. He's a guy that's going to be able to play offense, he's going to be able to play defense at a high level for us. You talk about Jayson is a guy who should be one of the elite cutters in all the college basketball, great instincts. He's a guy that also should be a really good rebounding force, and he can stretch the floor from the forward position for us as well."

On freshman Tre Johnson

"I alluded to the fact that we have six returners and six guys from the portal, four freshmen. So we got 10 new players. And again, a blend of old and a blend of new and young, and him being one of the young guys, and a guy that, I think, media wants to get familiar with. He's a guy that's deserving of being here today. He's an extremely talented player. He's a top five player in the country last year in his class, he's been the best player in his class in the state of Texas his entire career. He's a guy that we think fits our culture at a very high level, in terms of what he brings to the table, super competitive, a kid that wants to get better every day. He's proud of being from the state of Texas and representing Texas at the flagship program, and he's a super competitor. I got a chance to coach Kevin Durant for one year at Texas, and he and Kevin have a lot of things that kind of come from the same cloth, in terms of incredible work ethic. A guy that we have to literally push him out of the gym. He's in the gym 24/7, much like Kevin was, and he's a super competitive kid, you put the scoreboard on, and he's competing at another level in terms of really wanting to win and compete at a very high level. So he's a guy that we're counting on this year to have a big year and do big things in Austin."

On Kentucky head coach Mark Pope

"Mark's a tremendous coach, tremendous person. He was a good player as well. I think I'm living in my dream job here. Every day I'm blessed and honored to be the head coach at the University of Texas. I think he feels the same way about Kentucky. He's a former player, won a national championship. There's a lot of pride and in walking into the office every day when you feel like you're living a dream every day. I can't speak for him, but I would think that it would be a dream for him to be the head coach at the University of Kentucky, and I think that his teams play with the great spirit about themselves. They're very unselfish, they share the basketball, very good offensively. So you have to prepare in terms of really trying to have a really good defensive mindset. Because they're a team that can really score the basketball in my short time competing against his team in the Big 12. Very well coached. Really good guy, great person."

Chendall Weaver drives the ball up the court during a practice session that was held at the Moody Center for the local media. Sports writers got their first glimpse of the 2024-25 team at this event. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On building a culture

"That first year, we were really trying to build a culture. We came in and really were trying to instill in our guys how hard you have to work, trust the process, competing at an incredible level, having a physical mindset. Those were all things we really tried to build on preparation, trying to be one of the best prepared teams in the country. I think the one thing that was glaring for us there was a difference from year one to year two, was that we had continuity. We all strive to try to have continuity. I have six returners this year, four guys that played significant minutes for us last year. Anytime, I think, in this landscape and all the college athletics, if you're able to have some form a level of continuity, then you give yourself a chance. Because those guys, they help build a culture. They help defend the culture every day. In year two at Texas, we had guys that were around from year one, they were now defending the culture, the new guys we brought in, they were showing our guys this is what we do, and this is how we do it every day. Here are the expectations, here are the standards, and this is how we do it. And then I think when you're able to have a guy for a second year in your program, he had the chance to build on what he did from year one and be great in year two. If you're able to have a guy for three years, just the continuity and having a feel for what you're doing and how you want to do it, the pace you want to do it, it rubs off and it carries over to other to other guys that are coming in. So we were able to have that, and we had a number of different guys that had much better years from year one to year two, because of that, they were familiar, comfortable with our system, and they could go out and really be themselves and not have to do as much thinking and trying to figure out what we're trying to get done as a program."

On the best thing about this year's team (question asked by Tre Johnson)

"Wow, that's a great one Tre. Great question for a freshmen, too. How about that? I tell you what I think the best thing about this group that we put together is, I think that these guys all really like each other. I think that's so important this day and time. In the summer, when you bring your team in, you really try to establish some chemistry with guys. But this group here, I think they did it organically. You don't want, as a coach to have to say, 'hey guys, you guys need to hang out together over here. You guys plan on doing this, doing these things together.' This group loves being around each other. I think they cut it up with each other off the court. They spend a lot of time off the court with each other, and I think again, when you have great chemistry off the court, I think it lends you an opportunity to have really good chemistry on the court. I think these guys have each other's back. I challenge them to be great teammates every day, but I think they truly like being around each other. I see them cutting up and having fun with each other, and to me, that's the best part of it, because it's really what makes their experience, what it's all about. Those are the moments that they're going to remember the most, when they're on the bus, cutting up on the bus and having fun in the bus. When they're back in the locker room and they're talking like they're at the barbershop, which they do. We got Nic Codie, another freshman. He's a barbershop guy. He's holding court, but I hear that, and that's what you miss as a coach, when you were a player. You miss being around your teammates and having fun and cutting up. That's what it's all about. And so that's what I would say about this team. I think they all really liked each other. I think they're all super competitive, and I'm excited about our journey. And we got a long ways to go, but I really like this group a lot."