Vic Schaefer bent a knee. After his Texas Longhorns side demolished Michigan 77-41, taking them to their second consecutive final four, Schaefer went down and looked up in gratitude. He got up and went straight to his rock, Rori Harmon for a long hug. It was an emotional moment for both as the partnership that started in the trenches will now end on a glorious high. 

Harmon has played under Schaefer for five years. The Texas coach has built the Longhorns program with Harmon at its core. “I said, let me be the one at the bottom that can help the foundation,” Harmon revealed. But the road has not always been smooth. The final whistle against Michigan was the epitome of their partnership. 

“I prayed for a long time last night to have that moment today with her. The kid’s been so special. She’s been the heart of our team and program for a while, and then when we got Madison, it really elevated everything, but she had somebody to be with,” Schaefer said in the post-game press conference. “But Rori, to go through what she’s gone through, to have that significant of an injury and to be back like she is, and she’s really playing well. She’s way different.”

Harmon was once a rising freshman averaging 11.4 points and 5.0 assists in her first year at Texas. She received multiple accolades, including an All-American honorable mention. She followed that up with a strong sophomore year and was in the midst of an even better junior year when it all came apart. An ACL injury in 12 games sidelined her for the year. But she soldiered through the rehab after a surgery and it has been an uphill journey for Harmon. 

She even got emotional after seeing the doctor that operated on her ACL before her last game at the Moody Center. That’s not all. Against Kentucky in Sweet 16, Harmon jammed the middle finger on her right hand after tumbling to the ground on a foul in the first quarter. Yet, she played through the pain and eventually finished with 11 points,7 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals. The finger was swollen after the game. Despite that injury, she was in full flow against Michigan, with 7 points,7 rebounds and 13 assists. 

“I was having a conversation with her tonight in the game a couple times of, “Hey, run my team. Run this team. ” I need the ball in your hands and we got to get the offense going a little faster and a little quicker,” Schaefer said. “Whenever this thing does end, it’s going to be a little different for the old ball coach to come walking into the gym after five years and Rori Harmon isn’t going to be in there.”

Harmon is arguably the greatest point guard in Longhorns history. She is the only player in NCAA records to amass at least 1,500 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 350 steals. Harmon has also adjusted. Until now, she averaged 10+ shots each year but now is the engine of this team averaging  7.5 shots a game. The point guard was the primary reason Madison Booker, another important piece of this roster, chose to transfer to Texas. “I wanted to play with a good point guard, and that was Rori Harmon,” Booker said. Beyond the motivation of chasing Texas’ first championship in 40 years, the squad had another motivation, to correct Vic Schaefer’s criticism. 

Vic Schaefer Revises His Stance as Team Hits 12-Game Streak

Back in February, Vic Schaefer blasted his team after they lost 86-70 to Vanderbilt. “We have no heart,” Schaefer said. “We’re not tough. It’s probably the softest team I’ve had in years.” The Longhorns haven’t lost since. A month and a half later, they blew out Michigan to take their winning streak to 12 games. 

“I think how they’ve responded is exactly what I thought they would do,” Schaefer said. “These kids have been nothing but tough. They have been nothing but competitive since that day. They have answered the bell every night. I think that speaks volumes about who they are, what they’re about, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Since that loss, they have defeated the likes of Ole Miss, fellow Final Four qualifier South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. More importantly, at the biggest stage they haven’t flinched. Their run so far has been as comfortable as it can be. A 42-point win over Missouri State, a 100-point offensive performance against Oregon, a 22-point win over Kentucky and now this Michigan win. 

“We never want to hear our head coach say that about the team he recruited because we’re so much better than that. We had a conversation with him too,” Madison Booker said. “I think after that game we kind of turned it around, and I hope he sees we have heart now. That will never happen again. I think we will never play that bad or make sure we won’t play that bad.” Texas is peaking just at the right time and they have the confidence to go all the way.