Rori Harmon’s megawatt smile is back and so is the energy running through Texas women’s basketball

Truth be told, Rori Harmon doesn’t like the track. If you tore knee ligaments last December, would you?

And yet, there she was just before Texas women’s basketball started preseason practice, running laps on the most-watched surgically rebuilt knee on campus.

When Harmon finished her mile run, she broke down crying. Six minutes, five seconds, the best time she's ever logged as a Longhorn.

“I'm not really an emotional person, but something very traumatic and emotional happened to me,” Harmon said.

“One of those moments like, wow, I’m nine months post op. Probably shouldn’t be in this great shape, feeling that great. But I have an expectation for myself, and so I was happy that I felt good.”

Harmon feels good, looks good and is once again playing good for coach Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns. Her signature megawatt smile is back. This team, with Harmon back at the controls, is one that should light up the SEC. It's a program running full speed toward the Women’s Final Four.

Is Texas a national title contender?

Asked straight up if Texas should be talking about a national title, Harmon said, “It is fair to say. It's fair to say, it sure is. I mean, we did last year. Me and my team are completely capable of making that a thing.”

It was fair to say last year, no question. Texas was ranked fifth and cooking last season during non-conference. Harmon was averaging 14.1 points and 7.8 assists per game while shooting 52.3% from the floor, a crazy high number for a 5-foot-6 point guard.

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But in a shoot-around hours before Texas faced Jackson State on Dec. 27 — Ugly Sweater Night, no less — Harmon crumpled to the floor with an ugly non-contact injury. Her right anterior cruciate ligament was gone. This was after she had been named the Associated Press national player of the week for putting up 27 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds against UConn.

Freshman Madison Booker took over point guard duties, and while just about everybody wrote the team off, the Longhorns took flight. Texas won the Big 12 tournament and reached the Elite Eight for a second straight season.

The NCAA granted Harmon a medical hardship waiver, so she has the option of one extra season. The 2023 Big 12 defensive player of the year is going to make the most of this one first.

Harmon’s comeback inspires teammates

With Harmon, does Texas punch through and reach last season’s Final Four? The Horns will never know. All they care about now is that Harmon’s back and there is sky-high optimism.

Seeing Harmon back on the floor, Booker said, “I could have just went into tears. Just having a great point guard is one thing, but having an All-American elite point guard, one of the best point guards in the nation, is another great thing.”

Booker is ready for ball-handling duties should the need arise, though. She’s lost 20 pounds and feels better than ever. The sophomore expects a big season and plenty of chances with Harmon feeding everybody.

“The way she plays, it inspires me to just go harder, because she plays like it might not be another game,” Booker said. “Like, that’s how hard she plays, and I respect her for that.”

The Horns have enough veterans but also added two McDonald’s All-Americans in 6-0 guard Jordan Lee and 6-1 forward Justice Carlton. They don’t have any knowledge base of Harmon’s play previously, so they’re learning her style for the first time.

“As much as the actual injury was not great, it’s a blessing in disguise with this really great team coming in and being able to just kind of reevaluate and readjust with the whole team together,” Carlton said.

Every day is a gift, Schaefer likes to say. That’s why Harmon wasn’t the only one who broke down crying out there on the track. Her coach did, too.

Schaefer is giving Harmon every possible second of recovery, though. Better make sure she’s good to go. Texas won’t open the season until Nov. 10, almost a full week after everyone else does on Nov. 4.

Part of that is due to Texas’ scheduling problems. Teams refuse to play in Moody Center no matter how much UT is paying. Still, Harmon was just recently released for contact drills, and better to error on the side of caution. Running into the paint is quite different from running on a track.

“When you’ve had something taken from you, it was in such a dramatic fashion and immediate, man, when you get it back and you feel good and confident in getting it back, it’s like a new lease on life,” Schaefer said. “And you can just see that in her smile.”