AUSTIN, Texas — Texas women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and Madison Booker earned SEC Player of the Year honors as the league announced their awards today.
All 16 SEC head coaches voted on the awards, with each coach not being allowed to vote for their own players.
Rori Harmon was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team and Jordan Lee was named to the All-Freshman Team. Booker also earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team.
For Schaefer it was his fourth SEC Coach of the Year honor in the first year in the SEC for Texas. Schaefer won SEC Coach of the Year honors as the head coach at Mississippi State in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
Schaefer led Texas to an SEC regular season championship in their first year in the conference. The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in the country in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. Texas is 29-2 on the season and finished the regular season 15-1, beating every team in the conference as they played South Carolina twice and split those games. On Monday, Schaefer was named the USA Today Sports SEC Coach of the Year.
After becoming the first freshman in the history of Big 12 women's basketball to earn Player of the Year honors in the 2023-24 season Madison Booker takes home SEC Player of the Year in the Longhorns first year in the SEC.
The 2024 First Team All-American and Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year honoree as a freshman, Booker has not disappointed in her sophomore season. Booker has scored in double figures in 24 games and 20 or more points in 11 games this season. Booker ranks second on the team in rebounding and has six double-doubles on the season. As an incredibly efficient player, Booker is shooting 46.4 percent from the field on the season, 41.7 percent from 3-point range and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. In the Longhorns last six games against ranked opponents, including four wins against top-10 teams, Booker is averaging 21.5 points per game.
Rori Harmon sets the tone for Texas on defense and was the 2023 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Harmon is constantly called on to guard the opponents best player and she picks up her opponent at 94 feet from the basket. Harmon moved into the top-10 in program history in career steals this season. Harmon also became the first player in program history to reach 1,200 points and 600 assists. Harmon is not afraid to sacrifice her body and has drawn 40 offensive fouls on opponents and is second on the team in total fouls drawn at 109 for the season. For her career Harmon averages 4.6 rebounds per game.
Jordan Lee has played a key role for the Longhorns in her freshman season at Texas. In her first SEC game, on the road at No. 9 Oklahoma the Longhorns trailed by 12 points in the second quarter and it was Lee's four 3-pointers and 17 points that helped Texas come back and win that game. Lee was the USBWA National Freshman of the Week on Jan. 7. Lee leads Texas with 32 made 3-pointers on the season and made six on the road at James Madison. Coach Schaefer and other SEC coaches have been impressed by Lee's commitment to defense and her ability to learn the Texas system.
The Longhorns are back in action in Greenville, S.C., in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
First Team
Georgia Amoore - Kentucky
Madison Booker - Texas
Aneesah Morrow - LSU
Raegan Beers - Oklahoma
Sarah Ashlee Barker - Alabama
Flau'Jae Johnson - LSU
Mikayla Blakes - Vanderbilt
Mikaylah Williams - LSU
Joyce Edwards - South Carolina
Second Team
Talaysia Cooper - Tennessee
Clara Strack - Kentucky
Madison Scott - Ole Miss
MiLaysia Fulwiley - South Carolina
Jerkaila Jordan - Mississippi State
DeYona Gaston - Auburn
Te-Hina Paopao - South Carolina
Payton Verhulst – Oklahoma
All-Defensive
Rori Harmon - Texas
Clara Strack - Kentucky
Talaysia Cooper - Tennessee
Sania Feagin - South Carolina
Raven Johnson - South Carolina
Aneesah Morrow – LSU
All-Freshmen
Mikayla Blakes - Vanderbilt
Joyce Edwards - South Carolina
Liv McGill - Florida
Sira Thienou - Ole Miss
Yuting Deng - Auburn
Jordan Lee - Texas
Trinity Turner - Georgia
Mia Woolfolk – Georgia
Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Grace Slaughter – Missouri
Player of the Year – Madison Booker – Texas
Freshman of the Year – Mikayla Blakes – Vanderbilt
Newcomer of the Year – Georgia Amoore – Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year – Clara Strack – Kentucky
Sixth-Woman of the Year – MiLaysia Fulwiley – South Carolina
Coach of the Year – Vic Schaefer - Texas