Golden: Texas point guard Rori Harmon sure is electric, but Horns need her to score more
Rori Harmon and her teammates pulled a fast one on their head coach last week.
They deftly cooked up a story through hoops sports information director Jeremy Rosenthal to convince Vic Schaefer that someone other than himself had been named the Big 12's coach of the year.
“We’re an extension of you,” Harmon said to Schaefer in the meeting room as teammates looked on. “Whatever Jeremy told you last night was a complete lie. Congratulations on being named the Big 12 coach of the year.”
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The Longhorns cheered and threw up confetti as coach and player embraced in an emotional hug.
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“You’re so crazy,” Schaefer told her.
“You deserve it,” Harmon said.
Joined at the hip since Harmon arrived last season, they are the two most important people in the program. Harmon is an extension of her head coach on the floor. She knows where each player is supposed to be. She’s a leader and a teacher. Just as important, she doesn’t hold her tongue when criticism is needed as evidenced by the night she publicly questioned the effort of some of her teammates after a 63-54 home loss to Baylor.
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Harmon leaves everything on the court.
But the Longhorns need more from her.
Yeah, I know. That’s like being one of those lucky souls in the studio of the Oprah Winfrey show who get a free car, only that you stand up and demand extra tint on the windows and better rims.
How can the electric Harmon possibly give more? That compact 5-foot-6 frame takes charges from guards who routinely outweigh her by 25 pounds. Her seven-plus assists per game rank third in the nation among Power Five guards. Only Kansas State’s Jaelyn Glenn averaged more steals in the league than its defensive player of the year who grabbed 2½ steals per game.
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Harmon is arguably the best player in the league even if Iowa State’s Ashley Joens took home player of the year honors.
Yet, for the Horns to advance to a third straight Elite Eight, she will have to give them more, particularly in the scoring department.
Despite numbers that stack up favorably with most point guards in America, Harmon will have to score more on a roster that’s been ravaged by injuries. She’s averaging 11.4 points per game but is shooting only 36.6% from the field. Since making 3-of-5 3-pointers in a Feb. 8 win over Texas Tech, she has knocked down only one of her last 16 attempts from distance. For the season, she’s 8-of-49 for a frigid 17%.
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The shooting numbers are down from a freshman All-America season where she knocked down nearly 40% of her field goals and 22 of 69 triples. The 31% clip from distance wasn’t Brooke McCarty accuracy, but it was more than enough to keep opposing defenses honest.
The shots haven't been falling, but need to start
Everyone struggles sometimes: Even the greatest players have those seasons when the ball just doesn’t fall and Harmon, Texas’ court leader, is no different. She'll be pressed to score more because the Horns are thin with Sonya Morris possibly out the rest of the way with a leg injury.
League newcomer of the year Shaylee Gonzales has been terrific off the ball and Shay Holle has knocked down some timely threes, but the head of the snake needs to rediscover that sweet shooting stroke that helped author three tourney wins. Add to that, Texas doesn’t have a natural backup at point, adding pressure on her to avoid foul trouble.
Schaefer always says the game rewards the players who put in the most work off the court, and no one works harder than Harmon, but the shots just haven’t fallen. She has scored in double digits in 20 of her 29 games, but hasn’t scored 20 points in a game this season.
Last season, she played in all 36 games and topped 20 four times, including a 30-point explosion in the Big 12 title tourney win over Iowa State and 20 more in the NCAA opening win over Baylor.
Harmon received AP All-America honorable mention Tuesday, which is acknowledgement of her excellence. South Carolina post Aliyah Boston and Iowa State guard Caitlin Clark were unanimous First Team selections. Boston’s scoring is down from last season like Harmon’s, the Gamecocks are loaded with offensive weapons, allowing Boston to pick her spots.
In Texas’ case, they need their best player to knock down more shots. Harmon’s a money player who has never cowered in the face of big moments. Expect her to produce fireworks in this tournament because she always seems to shine when the lights are the brightest.
A scoring outburst may not happen in this weekend’s opener against East Carolina, but there will come a time when the Horns will need Harmon to take over a game offensively, especially if they harbor realistic dreams of going special places over these next three weeks.
With release of Zeke, it's an end of an era
Cowboys making moves: Dallas' release of longtime running back Ezekiel Elliott was met with sadness by many fans, but it had to happen.
The decision came on the heels of the organization signing cornerback Stephon Gilmore to form one of the league’s best pass-defending duos with Trevon Diggs. They still need another wideout opposite CeeDee Lamb, but let’s give Jerry Jones and son Stephen credit for making some quality moves ahead of next month's draft.
Only Derrick Henry has more rushing yards than Zeke's 8,262 among active rushers, but it's clearly a nod to Tony Pollard, the former backup who received the franchise tag. In case you're wondering, I wouldn't hold my breath on the Cowboys drafting Texas star Bijan Robinson unless they move up from the No. 26 position.
Is Mr. Rodgers changing neighborhoods?
New York's other A-Rod: Aaron Rodgers is following the Brett Favre playbook note for note except he didn’t allegedly steal government funds from poor people.
When Favre orchestrated a trade from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets in 2008, it came amid a tumultuous back-and-forth with the organization with a young Rodgers waiting in the wings. Rodgers will be 39 when he joins the Jets this fall — assuming they meet Green Bay’s trade compensation demands — and expressed his love for his fans on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday while making his intentions clear that his time at Lambeau has come to an end.
Favre’s Jets went all in on high-priced free agents, but he didn’t play up to that talent, going 9-7 in what turned out to be his only season there. Coach Eric Mangini was subsequently fired.
The current Jets are young, but they are filthy talented with a trio of sophomores leading the way: speedy Lake Travis product Garrett Wilson at receiver, running back Breece Hall and ball-hawking defensive back Sauce Gardner heading up the league’s No. 4 defense.
Like San Francisco, they appear to be a quarterback away from making some serious noise in the postseason for years to come. Rodgers, even at his advanced age, is the answer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas, Harmon play East Carolina in NCAA opener Saturday
