Why Rori Harmon Made Decision to Stay With Texas Longhorns
AUSTIN – On April 9, senior point guard Rori Harmon announced her decision to return and play her fifth year of eligibility as a Texas Longhorn, forgoing the WNBA Draft and transfer portal.
When asked about her decision and if she put any thought into testing the transfer portal waters, she was quick to answer.
“There’s nothing better than Texas, so I would be doing myself a disservice,” Harmon said. “But, you know, there’s always those thoughts that cross your mind, but nothing that I really considered talking about and going into it, but yeah, there’s nothing better than Texas, and I wouldn’t settle for less.”
Harmon has a special relationship with head coach Vic Schaefer, something they both cherish and when she was considering coming back or not, he constantly reminded her that if she stayed, she would claim several spots in the Texas record books. Harmon is also a Houston native and spending another year two and a half hours away from her parents wasn’t something she was ready to say goodbye to just yet.
She already is the only Longhorn to score 1,200 points and record 700 assists but she doesn’t care about the individual accolades and just wants to help her team win.
“Obviously, (Schaefer and his staff) worked super hard for me to get this medical redshirt,” Harmon said. “And this is basically me showing that appreciation. So I know that whatever is going to happen next year, it’s only up from here.”
She was awarded her medical redshirt after playing just 12 games in her junior season before tearing her ACL in practice. 10 months later she would return to play, and then lead her Longhorns to their first Final Four in 22 years that season.
Now, knowing what it takes to get there, Harmon wants to get back to the top and win.
“For the next level, there’s a lot of things that are evolving, and then there’s a lot of things that are evolving right now and college,” Harmon said. “So it’s not anything that’s going to run away from me. I think the thought process is like, ‘If I don’t return, that’s it, I can’t come back.’ I Can’t just be like, oh, you know what, I’m just gonna come back, like, three years later. Like, no, that’s not, it’s not how it works. But I think the other thought was, like, the WNBA isn’t going anywhere. It’s going to only get better.”Harmon also shared that she was recently cleared to start playing basketball without her knee brace and while she is taking time off, she can’t wait to get back into the gym and continue working on her game.
