Texas Women’s Basketball steals the show at SEC Media Day in Birmingham

Texas Women's Basketball season is right around the corner, and the team had fun at SEC Women's Basketball Media Day in Birmingham, Alabama, yesterday. Texas Longhorns Head Coach Vic Schaefer emphasized the significance of the non-conference games in Las Vegas to the team. We also heard from Rori Harmon, Madison Booker, and Kyle Oldarce.

Let's dive into some of the things that were mentioned at media day.

Las Vegas Trip

One of the big trips that Women's Basketball will be taking this season is to Las Vegas for the Player Era Championship. They will be taking on UCLA, followed by either South Carolina or Duke University. It's a massive tournament, pitting us against some of the best women's basketball teams in the country.

Vic Schaefer mentioned that it felt similar to Texas Football's trip to Ohio State to face the Buckeyes at the start of the season.

""Nevertheless, it's a great opportunity for our kids to play on a national stage against four of the top-seven teams in the pre-season polls. It will get your attention in a hurry. You got to be ready early. For us, I think it's a great opportunity. Again, much like our football team going to Ohio State, playing that opening game, our men's basketball is doing something very similar; we're going to do it, as well."
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Texas Longhorns Head Coach Vic Schaefer

Schaefer isn't lying about how tough the games are going to be. UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts is one of the top players in the country and is expected to possibly be the number one overall pick in the WNBA Draft next year. South Carolina and Duke are two really tough opponents, and I know Schaefer knows what it's like to be on the losing end of some of those games against South Carolina from last season.

Madison Booker is putting in the work

Booker is one of the top players on the Longhorns team, and she never stops working on her craft. The media had the opportunity to ask Schaefer about Booker's contributions to the program and the work ethic that she brings. Schaefer would go on to say that she's always in the gym getting shots up every day, and it's because her support system has raised her to be the person she is today.

""Again, that's why she's so unique and special. Again, I've coached some great ones. There's one right there on the wall. But Book, Book is different. Again, she's grown and she's so mature right now. She's a great teammate. Like, you have no idea what kind of a kid that kid is. She is a great kid, great teammate. Family raised her right. Mom and dad, auntie, grandma. Because of those folks, she is who she is today.""

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Vic Schaefer

Booker is going to be one of those players in the SEC this season who ends up at the top of everyone's scouting reports. That's the type of player she is on the court. Once she gets a couple of baskets to go down, all you can do is hope that you can contain her for the remainder of the game. Booker is going to be one of the leaders for the Longhorns this season, along with Harmon. The SEC will have to watch out for those two players this season.

Preseason nominations

To wrap up our preview of the upcoming season, here are some of the preseason awards and rankings for the Longhorns. The Longhorns were predicted to finish second in the SEC this season. It's not too shocking considering what Dawn Staley has created over in South Carolina. I think it was a respectable prediction, considering who's returning to the Longhorns and how they've improved their team with the transfer portal this offseason.

Now for the preseason awards, Madison Booker was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year and was added to the All-SEC First Team as well. That is some pretty remarkable respect for the type of player that Booker is for the Longhorns. Booker is bound to have another great season in the orange and white.

Harmon was named to the preseason All-SEC Second Team. Harmon is going into her last season with the Longhorns, and it's going to be a bittersweet season for the fans. Harmon has done so much for the program, and she's going to be an incredible pro basketball player once she leaves Austin. The Longhorns will kick off their season on November 3rd against Incarnate Word University. It's going to be a fun season for Longhorns basketball as they look to make it back to the Final Four.