Was Rori Harmon a Threat Since High School? Revisiting Junior Guard’s Career Before Texas Longhorns

Rori Harmon, Texas Longhorns’ spearheading force, will sit out for the rest of the season. This unexpected news came on Friday when Harmon tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee. Although, Harmon was the Big 12 preseason player of the year, however, the Longhorns will be moving forward without her as their final season in the Big 12 starts on Saturday. They will be playing against #10 Baylor. Notably, she got injured on Wednesday’s shoot-around before Texas’ 97-52 win over Jackson State. Harmon spent the game sitting on the bench and was limping when she walked off the court.

This season, Rori has been averaging 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists. She also became The Associated Press National Player of the Week after she scored 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 13 assists on December 3rd, leading Texas to its first win over UConn. As remarkable a player as she has been this season, Harmon has achieved a lot even before her college career.

Rori Harmon’s life before the Longhorns

Before joining forces with Texas, Harmon had a stellar career in high school. Harmon attended Cypress Creek High School in Houston, Texas. There Harmon played basketball and earned many accolades. She was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2021, a 2021 Houston Chronicle All-Greater Houston Girls Basketball Co-Player of the Year, and a Four-time Texas Association of Basketball Coaches all-state selection.

Across 146 games that she played at Cypress Creek, Harmon amassed 2572 points, 745 assists, and 700 steals. Moreover, Harmon’s remarkable on-court moves caught lots of attention from national recruiting outlets. She was given a 5-star rating and a 97 overall rating from ESPN. Furthermore, she was also named the 10th-ranked point guard in the 2021 recruiting class by ESPN.

In high school, Harmon averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 4.7 steals per game while leading Cypress Creek to a 41-1 record and a runner-up finish in the Class 6A state tournament during her junior season.

However, her career with the Texas Longhorns reached a new level of finesse as she grew as a player.

Indeed, Rori’s current player profile wasn’t built in a day, rather it developed with time and sheer dedication, and the resilient hard work that she puts into her game. As a result, the Longhorns point guard gives it all which can be seen in her moves.

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She is surely emerging to be one of the players who can give great competition to the leading players in the season.

Harmon’s success at Texas Longhorns

During her freshman season, Harmon handed in an impressive freshman campaign which led her to All-America Honorable Mention honors by the Associated Press, and Women’s Basketball Coaches Associations (WBCA). Also, she became the first freshman in the history of Texas Longhorns to earn an All-AMerican status from either organization.

She was named the 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Moreover, during the 2022 NCAA Tournament, she was named to the Spokane Region All-Tounrment Team. She received the Most Outstanding Player Award after the 2022 Big 12 Championship held in Kansas City.

Further, she was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, along with the Big 12 All-Defensive Team as well as the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. She collected 4 Big 12 Freshman of the Week awards. In February 2021, she was recognized as the ESPN W National Player of the Week.

In December 2021, Harmon was named for the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week award by the National Collegiate Basketball Writers Association. Ranking No. 2 in the school’s history in single-season steals by a freshman, Harmon led the Big 12 and ranked No. 17 in the NCAA with 86 steals on the season. Similarly, she ranks No. 1 in the school’s history in single-season assists by a freshman with a total of 180 assists, ranking No. 3 in the league and No. 17 across the nation.

Having a 2.25 assists/turnover ratio, Harmon was ranked No. 3 in the conference and No. 26 in the country. In November 2021, she contributed a team-high 21 points in a win over #2 ranked Stanford. Significantly, Harmon recorded her first career double-double display at Tennessee, with 10 points and 11 assists.

Following that, Harmon recorded her second double-double at Oklahoma when she scored 15 points, and a season-high 11 rebounds in Jan 2022. Before that, she hooped a team-high 18 points at Texas A&M, and recorded 15 points at Princeton, both in December 2021 respectively.

In Feb 2022, she poured a team-best 20 points and 9 assists against Iowa State. Similarly, in a matchup against West Virginia, she led the Longhorns with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. When the Big 12 Championship semifinal came, she hooped a season-best 30 points on 8-of-17 shooting and season-hign 5 triple-doubles and gained victory over Iowa State.

Now reaching the NCAA Elite Eight, Harmon scored 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Despite the swift performance, the Longhorns took a loss against Stanford.

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With such sheer will to perform consistently, this was not the season Rori was looking forward to with the injury at hand. Although, it may take some time to heal, however, it is for sure that Rori will be making a roaring comeback next season.