The Houston Rockets lost to the Chicago Bulls Thursday night by a score of 103-100. That loss dropped the Rockets from the seventh spot in the Western Conference to the ninth spot, and they are now on the outside looking in with just six games to play.
Despite the loss and its ramifications, it was still a pretty good day for Jason Terry. Terry only scored three points in 18 minutes of game action, but it wasn't a good day because of anything that happened on the court. He had what he described as a good meeting with UAB regarding their vacant head coaching position.
Terry found time to meet with UAB athletics director Mark Ingram in the afternoon before the game against the Bulls on Thursday. Ingram is conducting interviews in Houston, which is the site of the Final Four, so it worked out well for Jet. The 38-year-old guard still hasn't officially decided if he will retire after this season, but he did consider it after last season, and he said that he wants to have options. Terry was a star in college at Arizona but says he has "deep roots in the Birmingham community" through relatives and that he is "very familiar with the area."
Terry, of course, has never coached before, but he has expressed his desire to get into coaching once he steps away from playing. It has become popular in the NBA to hire player's right out of retirement (Jason Kidd & Derek Fisher), but you don't see it all that often in college. Even if UAB thought that Terry was there guy after the interview process, hiring him still wouldn't be ideal. The school would likely want their next coach to come in right away and get started on recruiting, but Terry's season won't end until the middle of April at the very earliest.
The job is open because former head coach Jerrod Haase left to become the Stanford head coach after back-to-back successful seasons. Other options for the UAB head coaching position are interim coach Robert Ehsan and Auburn assistant Chuck Person, but Terry is the most intriguing name so far, if only because he is still playing in the NBA. Terry says that he still might want to play for a couple more years, but if he does get offered this position, it would be hard to turn down because "there is some longevity in it."
