Rori Harmon adjusts to her new role for Texas women's basketball: 'I can be a heartbeat'

Rori Harmon recently got a new notebook.

It was a thoughtful gift from Texas women's basketball graduate assistants Ryan Yablonsky and Mason Wright. They even had the notebook customized with the words "Coach Harmon" on it.

The life of a coach, though, is not for Harmon. At least not right now. Texas' junior guard has settled into a role as an unofficial assistant on Vic Schaefer’s coaching staff since a right knee injury ended her season in December, but the All-American candidate is diligently working toward her return to the court.

“I feel honored to be called (Coach Harmon), that's nice. But I would like to be called Rori and to be called the point guard that is on the court,” Harmon said this week.

Just a few months ago, Harmon was establishing herself as a household name in college basketball. After watching Harmon score 27 points and distribute 13 assists against his team in UT's 80-68 win on Dec. 3, UConn coach Geno Auriemma called Harmon “the best player we’ve played against.” When speaking about her rival’s point guard in October, Oklahoma's Jennie Baranczyk said, “I don’t know if there is anybody better in the country, and I don’t just mean in our league.”

Through the first 12 games of the season, Harmon was averaging 14.1 points and 7.8 assists per game. Her 6.64 assists-to-turnover ratio led the nation by a healthy margin. She also was the Big 12’s reigning defensive player of the year.

But on Dec. 27, everything changed for both Harmon and the Longhorns.

During the team shootaround before the Jackson State game, Harmon was participating in a press break drill. While doing an in-and-out move, she cut to her left. But when she went back right, she heard a pop.

Harmon had to wait a day to take a MRI, but she knew what the results would be. After Schaefer called her and associate head coach Elena Lovato into his office to share the diagnosis of a torn ACL, injured meniscus and sprained MCL, Harmon said she cried for nearly 45 minutes.

Rori Harmon: 'I feel like I can be a heartbeat'

Harmon allowed herself a few days to be selfish. But then she began to evaluate how she could best help the team.

"I feel like I can be a heartbeat," Harmon said. "I still have that point guard leadership role of not the motor on the court, but the motor off the court."

Believe it or not, Harmon does not profess to be a vocal leader. She prefers to quietly address her teammates. That would have to change, though. Instead of intimate asides, she would now try to energize her team through clapping and cheering.

One of Harmon's new tasks has been mentoring Texas' young point guards. Madison Booker is a true freshman. Gisella Maul joined the Longhorns halfway through the 2022-23 season, but she belongs to Booker's recruiting class.

Booker started this season as a dynamic option on the wing, but has blossomed as Harmon's understudy. Averaging 15.9 points and 4.8 assists per game this season, Booker has been a three-time winner of the Big 12 freshman of the week award and two-time Big 12 player of the week pick since Harmon's injury. "It's almost like there's not much for me to tell her right now," Harmon said.

"Each and every day I'm learning. I'm learning from one of the best PGs in the nation," Booker said last month. "She's in my ear always, just helping me out."

Putting her notebook to good use

On game day, Harmon can be seen scribbling in her notebook. Like she does during practices, she's tracking kills.

What's a kill, you ask? Lovato defined it as using either a defensive rebound or turnover to get three defensive stops in a row. For example, Texas recorded three kills in the fourth quarter of an 81-60 win over Iowa State at Moody Center this past Saturday.

So that's why Harmon is jotting down checks and dashes in her notebook during games. She keeps track of kills in UT practices as well, but she'll just call out the results to her teammates in that setting.

The concept of a kill isn't revolutionary. Kansas State uses a "Gap Goat" stuffed animal that has its own Instagram account to celebrate three defensive stops in a row. Harmon likes Kansas State's idea, but Texas doesn't award any prizes for a kill and Harmon argues that the incentive of getting one "should be enough." Besides, the point guard is more concerned with changing the definition of a kill, anyways.

"I want to consider a stop where you get to stop and then you score," she suggested. "If you get a stop and you don't score, it doesn't count. That's the challenge. We're just going to stick with what we've got right now."

Harmon has eased into her new unofficial coaching role

Before she had her surgery on Jan. 17, Harmon was allowed to sit in her normal spot on the bench between Lovato and director of player development Sydney Carter. Harmon's doctor moved her behind the team bench after her surgery, but she plans on returning now that she has ditched her crutches.

"I think obviously it continues to help her keep a voice with our team," Schaefer said of Harmon's new role. "I encourage that because she has instant credibility with our players."

Schaefer doesn't believe that Harmon's injury has led her to a new appreciation for the game of basketball. He said she already respected the sport too much for that. The time on the bench, however, has given her a new perspective.

The Iowa State game was a good example of that. During the 21-point win, Harmon said she realized that Iowa State had started to use a "triangle and two" defense, so she kept yelling at Schaefer from her spot behind the team bench. Schaefer countered that Iowa State was using a "box and one" scheme.

"They were in triangle two," Harmon maintained.

Harmon doesn't know if she would have made the same observation if she was playing. But from her vantage point behind the bench, "I saw two people following two people and then three people were just being still. It's like I'm watching film constantly."

Finding solace in Texas' sisterhood

Harmon spoke with the American-Statesman on Monday just after she finished a physical therapy session. A normal day for her now includes class, observing practice and film and private weight training with sports performance coach Zack Zillner since she's not yet allowed to lift around her teammates. She has recently started shooting free throws.

Off the court, Harmon has taken comfort in Carter telling her that God has a specific plan for her. She has leaned emotionally on her family and senior guard Shaylee Gonzales, who missed her 2019-20 season at BYU because of an ACL tear. Maul, Aaliyah Moore and Jordana Codio, all of whom were sidelined by knee injuries last season, have offered plenty of support.

"I've never been through surgery. I've never had to sit out for this long," Harmon said. "Being able to talk to A-Mo, G, Jordana, Shaylee, they're trying to keep up with my recovery and saying like, 'Oh, you look good,' my scar looks good or my scar looks better than theirs."

Harmon is documenting her rehab on social media, and that has allowed her to interact with fans as well as others who are also dealing with knee injuries. She recently felt comfortable enough to talk with students at Travis High School about her last few months.

Harmon is additionally looking forward to the future, but both she and Schaefer have declined to set a timetable for her return. After all, she points out that she is still talking about her rehab in terms of weeks, not months. "Saying I'm four weeks post-op sounds lame," she joked.

But at some point, Harmon will be back on the court. A career in coaching can wait a little while longer.

Wednesday's game

Texas Tech (16-11, 5-9) at No. 5 Texas (24-3, 11-3), 7 p.m., Moody Center, LHN, 103.1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women's basketball star Rori Harmon adjusts to coaching role