With Harmon back, Texas women's basketball looking to build off historic 2023-24 season

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas women's basketball team racked up 33 wins last season, the most in program history after the 1986 perfect 34-0 season that ended with a national title. For about two-thirds of the season, the Longhorns built their historic win total without their best player.

But she's back, and head coach Vic Schaefer said she "looks like a million bucks."

Point guard Rori Harmon was on her way to an All-American-type season before she blew her right knee out during a shootaround right before Big 12 Conference play, and while her absence galvanized the team, Schaefer is happy to have his point guard back.

"I can't tell you how good it is to have Rori back on the floor," he said. "She looks great to me. You're talking about a kid who is so excited and humble and appreciates where she is in the process of rehabbing and getting healthy."

Schaefer said Harmon ran a mile in six minutes, five seconds before official workouts began, which for a basketball player is moving pretty quickly. If that's a sign of things to come from her, then opposing teams better start game planning.

Harmon's return, which comes with an extra year of eligibility after the NCAA granted her a medical hardship waiver for last season, means All-American guard Madison Booker can move back to her more natural wing position. Booker loves the sound of that.

"The knowledge I gained playing point guard has carried over to playing the wing," she said. "It's making some reads easier and a lot quicker now because I'm seeing things differently."

Booker said Harmon demands a lot of her teammates, but she's not necessarily vocal about it. Harmon's effort and want-to compel Booker and others to match that intensity and play harder.

"She sets the standard and she makes the team want to work harder on the court," Booker said. "Playing with her helps me learn and play with a different motor."

Harmon's competitiveness and drive made recovery difficult to a certain degree because she wanted to be on the floor with her team. She had surgery to repair her ACL three weeks after her diagnosis, and then she attacked her rehabilitation with the same mentality as when she slashes through opposing defenses.

"I just had to put a smile on and be there for my teammates," Harmon said. "As much as I love being around my teammates, going to practice and being around the game of basketball, that was something I truly didn't want to do."

Harmon got emotional after she ran the mile that Schaefer proudly talked about. It was a sign of how far she's come following her surgery and recovery, as well as another example of how hard she'll work to make herself and her team better.

"I'm thinking, 'Wow, I'm coming off knee surgery and I ran my best mile time,'" she said. "In that moment, I was super proud of myself and gave myself some credit, and I got emotional about it. It gave me a marker for where I'm at now."

Texas opens the season Nov. 10 against Southeast Missouri State at Moody Center. The Longhorns play an exhibition game against UT-Tyler on Oct. 31 with the Orange-White Scrimmage on Oct. 24.