Big 12 notebook: Former Texas, Oregon forward Sedona Prince to end college career at TCU
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sedona Prince recently got to experience life after basketball for at least a little while.
After an elbow injury ended her final basketball season at Oregon, Prince moved to California. There she got a taste of adulting. Paying your bills and being responsible for your own food and insurance? That was a surprise. Prince, though, said Tuesday that the experience was a fulfilling one.
"I learned a lot (about) just like who I am as a human being and what I love to do and what makes me happy outside of basketball," Prince said at the Big 12 Basketball Tipoff at T-Mobile Center. "Now coming back to basketball, it's amazing to have this love for it but also to appreciate who I am and what I want to do in the future away from my sport."
The original plan for Prince was to rehab her injury and enter the 2023 WNBA draft. She reconsidered her plans after former Oregon assistant coach Mark Campbell was hired to lead the basketball program at TCU and an opportunity presented itself for her to play one season in Fort Worth.
With her arrival, Prince becomes one of the more notable names in the Big 12. On the court, she's a 6-foot-7 forward and former McDonald's All-American who helped lead Oregon to the NCAA Tournament twice. She averaged 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game with the Ducks. Off the court, Prince earned acclaim after she publicly called out the NCAA in 2021 for the discrepancies between the men's and women's basketball tournaments that were held in San Antonio. She has 178,000 followers on Instagram and 2.7 million followers on TikTok.
Prince originally signed with Texas and spent her first year of college in Austin. That relationship ended with an acrimonious split. Due to a broken leg, Prince never played in a game for the Longhorns.
Years later, the Liberty Hill native has returned to the Lone Star State. Prince said her parents may have been the happiest about her decision to transfer to TCU. She estimated that her parents were only able to get to around five of her games at Oregon.
"When I decided to come here, my mom was just crying uncontrollably," Prince said. "She was so happy, first for me to play for Mark but then to play only two-and-a-half hours away from home. It was so special for her just because she missed me playing basketball and for her to drive up like the old days."
Fill in the blank: What is __ Basketball?
On Tuesday, teams from BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston introduced themselves to the Big 12 media corps. Those four schools are joining the conference this season.
Not everyone in the Big 12 is familiar with these newcomers. So coaches and players from each school were asked to describe their calling cards: What is "BYU Basketball"? What is "Cincinnati Basketball"? What is "Houston Basketball"? What is "UCF Basketball"?
BYU coach Amber Whiting: "Defense, for sure. They're blue-collar kids, they just want to stick their nose in and do the work. I feel like (Big 12 fans are) gonna see us outwork a lot of people just because that's who we are. Diving on the floor for balls or doing things, but then off the court, I feel like they're service-oriented so they'll see a lot of that coming from our women outside and they carry themselves that way."
Cincinnati guard Mya Jackson: "I would say Cincinnati women's basketball, it's just tough. Tough, hard-working, resilient and just really into being together. I think that's so important, just one, being a unit. We focus a lot on picking up our teammates, being there for our teammates, being there for our university, for our organization, for our coaches. Just that togetherness is something that we really, really, really focused on and we want everyone in the Big 12 to be able to see as well."
Houston coach Ronald Hughey: "If you've seen Nolan Richardson's Arkansas teams, C. Vivian Stringer's 55, Shaka Smart's double fist, that's who we are. We're 94 feet the entire game. We're running and jumping and pressing, it's organized chaos for us. If you come to practice, we're all over the place and people are looking at us like how can you function in this? And that's who we are."
UCF forward Taylor Gibson: "I think it's just honor. We want to represent our university well. I think like (head coach Sytia Messer) said, gritty defense. Making it tough for teams to score I think is going to be our No. 1 key."
AP ranks two Big 12 teams
While the Big 12 was hosting its media day, the Associated Press released its preseason poll for the 2023-24 season. Two Big 12 teams were ranked.
The predicted champion in the Big 12's preseason poll, Texas was ranked 13th by the AP's voters. Baylor was voted into the 19th slot for a poll that was topped by defending national champion LSU. Kansas State, Kansas and Iowa State all received votes.
"I think (the lack of ranked Big 12 teams) could change really quickly," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, who felt that KU's omission was a snub. "I think it's about do we build on conference wins as a league. I think then that will really start to show, but I think there are some really, really good teams in this league."
Gonzales: 'an honor' to end up on watch list
Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given annually to the best shooting guard in college basketball. There were 20 players named to the watch list.
A sixth-year senior who spent four years at BYU, Gonzales averaged a team-high 12.7 points per game during her first year at Texas. She was responsible for 54 of UT's 147 3-pointers, and her 86.2 percentage at the free throw line ranked 36th nationally.
"It's a huge honor to be able to come up against those girls (on the watch list)," Gonzales said. "It's just an honor and a blessing to receive that and it shows my hard work. It's just not me, other people around me make me better and push me every single day."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: News and notes from the Big 12 Women's Basketball Tipoff
