Vic Schaefer, as revealed in a tweet by the University of Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte will coach the UT women’s basketball team this coming year. Del Conte posted a picture with Schaefer captioning it, “Guess who’s coming to the Forty.” The picture showed Schaefer, as well as his family, holding up the “Hook ‘em Horns” hand signal to show support of his new school and team.
Joining the Mississippi State University program in 2012, Schaefer made a lot of headway with the Lady Bulldogs. The team went to the national championship in both 2017 and 2018, although both ended in losses. Schaefer invested eight years into building the program from its state upon his initial arrival.
When the team was searching for a new coach in 2011, their statistics were not promising nor inviting. During the 2011-2012 season, the Bulldogs averaged 17.5 turnovers per game and 56.8 points per game. The first year Schaefer coached, those statistics did not improve but continued to build up the Bulldogs and a record the school had not seen in a while.
This past season, the Bulldogs scored an average of 79.2 points per game with a turnover average of 13.2 per game. These stats alone show the work that Vic Schaefer accomplished during his time with the team, but the two-time national championship play speaks for itself.
This past year, in 2019, Schaefer was given the titles of ESPNW National Coach of the Year, as well as SEC Coach of the Year. He earned these titles by showing his hard work in taking the team to places it had never been before.
One of the most important records to the Bulldogs is the record between them and the University of Mississippi. Through his time at MSU, Schaefer set the record anew at 12-2 with 11 straight wins against Ole Miss’ team.
This will not be Schaefer’s first time coaching in the state of Texas, for he spent the nine years prior to his time in Starkville coaching the Aggies of Texas A&M as an assistant coach. He had much success there as well, winning a national championship with them in 2011.
Although this is a sudden and striking loss for Starkville, the team is in much better shape this time around while looking for a new coach.
Players have been posting their thoughts on Twitter.
Junior guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter posted a picture of her and her teammates on Twitter. Her caption read, “I only play for them.”
Similarly, junior Sidney Cooks tweeted, “This team is my family.”
Redshirt Myah Taylor retweeted this saying, “Because together, we are stronger.”
Although the women’s basketball program is facing plenty of unknowns right now, the team is showing unity among players. This, along with their unprecedented school record in the past eight years, is likely to pick up a new coach soon.
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Vic Schaefer leaves Bulldogs behind to coach at Texas
About the Contributor
Lydia Palmer, Former Sports Editor
Lydia Palmer served as the Sports Editor from 2020 to 2021.
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