Rodney Terry, the former Texas basketball head coach, joins Vanderbilt as an assistant

Former Texas men’s basketball head coach Rodney Terry has joined the Vanderbilt staff as an assistant to head coach Mark Byington, Vanderbilt announced Monday.

Terry replaces Jon Cremins, who left to become the head coach at Georgia State.

Terry, a longtime Texas assistant to both Rick Barnes and Chris Beard, became the head coach of the Longhorns on an interim basis in December 2022 after Beard was fired following an arrest on a domestic violence charge. Terry led the Longhorns to an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in March 2023 and was subsequently hired as the permanent head coach with a five-year, $15.3 million contract with a buyout of $7.2 million.

Texas head coach Rodney Terry watches the game during the Longhorns' loss to Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on March 14. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean)

But Texas fell in the second round of the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament and finished the 2024-25 season with a 19-16, its worst mark since the 2016-17 season. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte fired Terry in March 2025 with three years left on his contract. Days later, Texas hired current coach to lead the program.