Rori Harmon had a big couple of games. She recorded her first double-double of the season against James Madison University with 11 points, 12 assists, 2 rebounds, and 5 steals. She also only turned the ball over once. Then, she scored 26 points on 9-15 shooting against UCLA. After that, Harmon had a tough shooting game against South Carolina, going 3-8 from the field. Nevertheless, the Players Era Festival was a successful outing for Harmon.
She secured Texas’s final win with a clutch mid-range jump shot, was named tournament MVP, and became her school’s leader in career assists. Harmon dished out nine assists to reach 777 career assists and pass Kami Ethridge for the record. Since then, Harmon added four assists to her tally with another solid performance against the Pennsylvania Quakers despite some uncharacteristic turnovers. She also recorded eight points, two assists, and five steals in that game.
Harmon is off to a great start in her final college season. According to her, a lot of the credit should go to her coach Vic Schaefer. When she appeared on The Ringer WNBA Show, Harmon said, “He just has so much trust in me and, as a player, really what brings the best out of you is when your coach has that much trust and confidence in you to be able to do these things.”
Schaefer’s confidence in Harmon is obvious. He played her for 40 minutes against South Carolina and called her “the first brick in building the program” after the team’s win. She was one of his first big-time recruits after taking over as the program’s head coach after the 2020 season.
Rori Harmon and Texas could go far this season
After making the Final Four last season, Texas entered the season ready to build on that success. They finished fourth in the preseason rankings, landing behind UConn, South Carolina, and UCLA. Since then, the Longhorns have proven that they cannot only hang with but beat some of the best teams in the country. Taking down UCLA and South Carolina catapulted them straight to second place in the updated rankings. Despite some injuries, Texas left no doubt that it can put together another successful season and maybe even exceed last season’s success.
Harmon will be a key piece of any success her team finds this season. She is the team’s starting point guard, longest-tenured player, and leader in assists. Behind strong play from her, Madison Booker, Jordan Lee, Aaliyah Crump, and Kyla Oldacre, Texas has what it takes to get some big wins.
Harmon is in her final season of college basketball and has the perfect chance to secure the cherry on top of an already successful career.