By Marlee Ressa | @marleeressa
Sports Capital Journalism Program
TAMPA – It took four seasons at the University of Texas for women’s basketball head coach Vic Schaefer to make it to the Final Four. This is his fourth time in the Final Four, two as head coach at Mississippi State and one as an assistant at the University of Arkansas. Four seems to be a magic number for Schaefer. If you don’t know this team, you might think it was fate that landed the Longhorns in Tampa.
As Texas prepared to meet South Carolina in its first NCAA national semifinal appearance since 2003, it was clear that the success of the Longhorns comes from their love for the game, their state and each other.
For senior Shay Holle, the only place she ever considered playing college basketball was Texas. The Austin student has deep roots planted at the school and says she is “a Longhorn for life.” Her father played football for Texas and her whole family bleeds burnt orange. She even has childhood pictures of herself in a UT cheerleading uniform. While she didn’t go the cheer route, she is proud now to don Bevo on her uniform.
Texas native Rori Harmon, a senior point guard, grew up in Cypress, two and a half hours from the University of Texas. Home is everything for her, and this is the reason she decided to play basketball at UT. “I love Houston,” she said. “I love Austin. I love Texas.” After a season-ending knee injury in December, 2023 and 10 months of rehab, reaching this Final Four means that much more to Harmon. Now, she can showcase her home state love on the biggest stage in women’s college basketball.
The Longhorns have succeeded because of their chemistry. They aren’t just good teammates; they are good friends. Holle says it goes beyond the fact that they spend nearly all their time together, although that is, of course, a part of it. She says it’s mostly due to the lack of cliques. From the 6:00 a.m. conditioning to the pre-season, she said, “when you go through things like that with each other, you can’t help but have each other’s back.”
While the team may not have friendship cliques, they sure do have the viral kind. The athletes have been posting plenty of videos of themselves on TikTok since they arrived and even got Schaefer in on the action. Sophomore Madison Booker said her coach didn’t need convincing. She joked that he looked like he was upset that he hadn’t been invited to be in the video, an accusation Schaefer tried to deny. Booker said that the team wants to have fun. “Behind cameras, this is how we act,” she said. “We act like one big happy family.”
With so many seniors on the Longhorns, you can see how much these teammates want to experience together during their stay in Tampa, even off the court. Booker laughingly said that “shopping together, that’s what brings us together.” For a moment, it was like the pressure and the stakes of the Final Four were wiped away and they were just bonding as college students and friends.
That isn’t to say that these student-athletes don’t know how integral it is for them to take this trip seriously. Holle said, “All of us, even the young kids, know this is a business trip.” The Longhorns know that to maximize their time together and make it to the championship game they will have to find the perfect balance of work and play. Harmon stated, “We want to enjoy the moment and stay loose, but when it’s time to step on the court… we know what’s at hand.”
There is so much the Longhorns can look forward to as they head into this national semifinal game. They will meet South Carolina for the fourth time this year after splitting the regular season games and losing to the Gamecocks, 64-45, in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.
The Longhorns have the chance to grow closer together and learn from one another. And if they get their way, they can earn the chance to become national champions.
