Will Rori Harmon return in 2024? Longhorn point guard yet to be cleared

Rori Harmon is the star of the Texas Longhorns women's basketball program, even when she is sidelined. Last season, the point guard tore her ACL right as she and the Horns were getting hot. As the 2024 season approaches, fans are excited to see Harmon back on the court but it may not happen right away.

As Texas enters its first-ever SEC basketball season, Harmon is still on the road to recovery and, at the women's basketball SEC Media Days, she shared that she hasn't been cleared quite yet.

"I'm getting so close to being cleared," Harmon told the SEC Network. Harmon's injury was first announced at the end of December last season when it was confirmed that she had torn her ACL.

While Harmon isn't fully cleared to play, the guard has a little bit more time until the season kicks off. The Longhorns are scheduled to start their season on Oct. 31 against the UT-Tyler Patriots in an exhibition game followed by the real season-opener on Nov. 10 versus Southeast Missouri State. Texas' SEC play isn't scheduled to begin until the team visits the Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 2.

So, if Harmon, the Horns' floor general, is looking to start the season alongside her team, she has just two weeks to earn that official clearance. However, if head coach Vic Schaefer continues to rest her, and lengthen her rehab window, Harmon may not see the court right away.

"Rori's presence, how hard she plays, the energy that she plays with permeates through my team every day, every game," Schaefer said at the SEC Media Days. "I think she really is a settling influence on my entire team. It gives my team a lot of confidence. It gives her head coach a lot of confidence to know that we have her back on the floor leading our team."

Harmon has been sidelined for 293 days as of Oct. 17 but hopefully, the floor general will return sooner rather than later.

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