Near the end of Rodney Terry’s question-and-answer session Tuesday at the SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Alabama, the Texas basketball coach fielded an inquiry from the back of the room.
And it wasn’t difficult to recognize who asked the question, considering that 6-foot-5 Texas freshman guard Tre Johnson towered over almost every member of the media.
“What's up, coach?” Johnson said. “I was just wanting to ask you, what do you think the best thing about our team this year is?”
Terry broke into a smile on stage, both at the question and at the touch of audacity that Johnson showed while strolling into the interview session in his Texas gear.
“Tre, great question — for a freshman, too,” he said. “How about that?”
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Terry answered with sincerity while talking about the “organic love for each other” that he says has quickly developed on a team with six returners, six new platers from the portal and four freshmen. He talked about the bonds already formed away from the court, which he hopes will translate to on-court chemistry for a Texas squad about to make its SEC debut.
But the best thing about this year’s Texas team may just be Johnson himself, a five-star McDonald’s All-American expected to play a big role for a revamped Texas squad that will break in five new starters. No other program in the 16-team conference brought a freshman to SEC Media Days, which testifies both to the high hopes for Johnson as well as a certain lack of identity for this year’s squad.
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Texas basketball flying low into SEC
Expectations aren’t exactly low for Texas, which enters the season No. 19 in the Associated Press poll and seventh in the SEC’s media poll. But the Longhorns are definitely the new kids on the block, based on the angle of the questions that Terry handled Tuesday.
- On his relationship with Ole Miss coach Chris Beard, whom Terry succeeded at Texas after Beard’s arrest for domestic violence in 2022: “Chris 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. We’re still really close right now. We're still talking, communicating at a high level, talking about other opponents — other than ourselves.”
- On new Texas player Tramon Mark , a native Texan from Dickinson who played in the SEC last season at Arkansas, as the lone Longhorn on the preseason All-SEC team: “I've seen Tramon play a long time. I remember when he was in eighth grade and he was coming up, my dad coached at his high school that he played in (during) his high school years, but my dad got fired from that job and didn't get a chance to coach Tramon. (Mark) is 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.”
- On new Kentucky coach Mark Pope, a former Kentucky player who competed against Terry in the Big 12 last season while coaching BYU: “Mark's a tremendous coach, tremendous person. He was a good player as well. I think I'm living my dream job (as) the head coach at University of Texas. I think he feels the same way about Kentucky. You know, he's a former player who won a national championship there. There's a lot of pride 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’s a dream for him to be the head coach at Kentucky.”
Terry fielded a few specific questions about his squad amid all the usual SEC chatter about Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. But Terry doesn’t mind flying low into the new conference.
He went 43-21 with four NCAA Tournament wins over the past two season while competing in the Big 12, which is ranked by most measurables as the most competitive conference in college basketball.
But this season presents new challenges, starting with a season-opening contest against Ohio State on Nov. 4 in Las Vegas and continuing into the SEC.
“Leaving the Big 12, there’s not going to be any kind of drop off,” Terry said. “I mean, we have great coaches, we have great players, we have great venues in this league, and we're super excited about being a part of it.”
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball: Rodney Terry talks move to SEC, Tre Johnson and Chris Beard
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