Five things that the Texas women's basketball team said at the SEC Tipoff event

Five things that the Texas women’s basketball team said at the SEC Tipoff event

Posted by Admin October 17, 2024 Basketball

On Wednesday, Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer was joined by senior point guard Rori Harmon and sophomore forward Madison Booker at the SEC Tipoff event in Birmingham, Ala.

Texas enters its first season in the SEC as the No. 2 team in the conference’s preseason poll. Booker shared the SEC preseason player of the year award with LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow while Harmon earned a second-team nod on the SEC preseason team.

Here are five things that were said by the Longhorns at the SEC Tipoff.

Why was Texas talking about Michigan on Wednesday?

During Schaefer and Harmon’s interview with the SEC Network, several references were made to the University of Michigan. It should be noted that the Longhorns now have an ex-Wolverine on their roster. Guard Laila Phelia transferred to UT this offseason after spending three seasons and earning all-conference honors at Michigan.

Harmon said when Phelia entered the transfer portal, Texas immediately knew that it had to convince her to move to Austin. Last season, Phelia’s average of 16.8 points per game led the Wolverines.

“She plays with such fire,” Harmon said. “Even in our practices lately, it’s like nobody can stay in front, nobody can guard her. I’m just so excited to have Laila on our team, and she’s going to do great this year.”

After Harmon finished speaking about Phelia, it was mentioned that Schaefer traveled to Ann Arbor last month for the Texas-Michigan football game. Schaefer explained that Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian called him a few days before UT’s 31-12 win at Michigan Stadium and said he had a field pass and seat on the team plane available if Schaefer wanted to go.

“I was like a kid in a candy store,” Schaefer said. “Went to meetings. I had a notepad with me the whole time. It was a great opportunity for me to really observe and watch him and his staff… just the preparation and everything that goes into that three-hour game is really quite amazing.”

Harmon not yet cleared after 2023 knee injury

Harmon’s appearance at the SEC Tipoff should be an encouraging sight for Texas fans. The fourth-year guard missed most of the 2023-24 season with a knee injury.

Harmon told the SEC Network that she has not been fully cleared by doctors yet, but she is “getting so close to being cleared.” That mirrors what she told local reporters during UT’s own media day on Oct. 2.

Texas still has time, though. The Longhorns don’t play their first game until Nov. 10. The NCAA allows teams to start playing on Nov. 4, but Schaefer has said that he wanted to wait as long as possible in order to give Harmon more time to heal.

A new yet old role for Booker

Following Harmon’s injury, Texas shifted Booker to the point guard position. Recruited to Texas as a wing player, Booker starred while running the UT offense. She averaged 16.5 points and 5.0 assists per game during her freshman season, earned All-American accolades and was named the Big 12 co-player of the year.

But with Harmon expected back sooner rather than later, what does that mean for Booker? When asked that question by the SEC Network, Schaefer explained that “I don’t think it changes as far as we need her punch. We need her to score. Rori and her have to feed off each other.”

Schaefer reminded the SEC Network that the team was playing really well before Harmon was injured. Over her 12 games last season, Harmon averaged 14.1 points and 7.8 assists per game while Booker was averaging 11.3 points. Texas went 12-0 and beat eventual Final Four qualifier UConn by 12 points during that stretch.

Schaefer returns to the SEC

Even though Texas is a SEC newcomer, its head coach is not. Before he took over at Texas following the 2019-20 season, Schaefer led the basketball program at Mississippi State for eight years. Schaefer went 221-62 with the Bulldogs and twice reached the NCAA tournament’s championship game. Mississippi State won the SEC championship in 2018 and 2019.

Schaefer also worked as an assistant coach at Arkansas from 1997-03. The Razorbacks advanced to the Final Four in 1998.

“For me, I’m obviously very familiar (with the SEC) and I’m comfortable,” Schaefer told the SEC Network. “I think our kids are excited about the opportunity, and so now we got to go live it.”

Schaefer praises Auburn coach Johnnie Harris

During his SEC Tipoff press conference, Schaefer was asked about the coaching job that Johnnie Harris has done at Auburn. Harris worked for Schaefer at Mississippi State and Texas before taking the Auburn job in 2021. Last year, she guided Auburn to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.

“I don’t care what sport it is in the Southeastern Conference, you want to take a daunting task, go take over one of the bottom teams in this league in whatever sport you’re going to take over and try to build it and pass people up. It’s almost impossible, it’s so daunting,” Schaefer said. “She was a big part of what we did at Mississippi State, and it doesn’t surprise me that she’s been able to do it at Auburn. I knew she could, I knew she would. She knows what the recipe is, and I’m certainly happy for her.”

Texas and Auburn will play just once this season when the Longhorns are hosted by the Tigers on Jan. 16, 2025. Former Texas forward DeYona Gaston, who transferred to Auburn this offseason, accompanied Harris to the SEC Tipoff on Wednesday.

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