Texas’ Rori Harmon is back from her ACL injury like she never left

That is, until Texas announced on Dec. 29, right before the start of Big 12 play against Baylor, that Harmon would be out for the season due to an ACL injury.

The tide changed for the Longhorns, as head coach Vic Schaefer entrusted Booker with the point guard role and the team, used to playing around Harmon, had to learn a new model of play.

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The Longhorns went far in March Madness even without their star, getting knocked out by NC State in the Elite Eight. Harmon stood on the sidelines, helping her teammates as best as she could and watching her junior year go by.

Ten months later, Harmon walked back onto the basketball court. And she was back in Texas’ starting lineup for the Longhorns’ exhibition game against UT-Tyler on Thursday.

“It’s been hard on her, it’s been hard on me to have her standing over there with me,” Schaefer told reporters after Thursday’s game. “That’s not what we envisioned when she came here.”

Asked after the game whether the moments before tip-off felt any different from before her injury, she said she felt the exact same.

“Of course I was happy. … Getting my name called for the starting five is really a blessing,” Harmon told reporters. “But honestly, when that ball goes up right before tip, my mindset is just to win and to play hard, to focus and be a point guard, be the leader. I hadn’t felt that in a while, but now that I remember, it felt the exact same as when I was playing last year.”

In her “new ACL” debut, Harmon shot 5-for-6 from the field and scored 11 points in the Longhorns’ 98-25 win over the Patriots. She had a co-team-high four assists and made one 3-pointer.

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She was already grateful for the opportunities she got before the injury, but she now takes every minute on the floor with a new level of gratitude.

“[I’m grateful] just to be able to play again, or just to be able to run baselines and whatever it is,” Harmon said. “Just for Coach Schaefer to yell at me, I’m just glad to be back in that position again, glad to have — I guess I wouldn’t say pressure. I would say that opportunity again. Yeah, I’m just super grateful.”

Even after not playing for 10 months, Harmon’s name is on preseason watch lists for several awards. She was one of three Texas players, alongside Booker and transfer guard Laila Phelia, to be named to the 2024-25 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year watch list. She was also selected to the preseason All-SEC second team (by both coaches and the media) and the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list for the nation’s best point guard.

“These kids, they put in the work,” Schaefer said. “It’s really been unique here the last couple of years to have the team that I have and the kids that I have. Rori’s been a big part of that. All three years, they come early, they stay late, they work on their craft.”

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Whether this will be Harmon’s final year in college is unknown. The NCAA granted her an extra year of eligibility after missing the 2023-24 conference season. But the senior is ranked in the top 10 in multiple 2025 WNBA Draft predictions.

But that shouldn’t be a big worry for the Longhorns. Though Harmon’s graduation, after this season or the next one, will take a toll on the team, Schaefer is building a team that can continue her legacy.

Despite being a natural forward, Booker thrived at point guard, and freshman point guard Bryanna Preston is taking lessons from Harmon seriously.

“Not a lot of people would take the opportunity to come here and play against Rori every single day in practice,” Preston told reporters after Thursday’s game. “It’s hard, but I know I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t capable. It’s a challenge, but guarding her every day is really good because when we go out there and play these other teams, I have nothing to be worried about because I’m already going against one of the best in the league.”

Preston was the team’s second-highest scorer in the exhibition against UT-Tyler with 13 points and tied Harmon with four assists.

Texas’ season officially starts on Nov. 10 against Southern Missouri State in Austin.