{"id":214786,"date":"2026-03-21T22:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214786\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T22:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:27:09","slug":"bryanna-preston-shines-as-texas-backup-but-starting-role-awaits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214786\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryanna Preston shines as Texas backup, but starting role awaits."},"content":{"rendered":"

When they arrived on the Texas Longhorns<\/a>‘ campus two summers ago, Bryanna Preston<\/a> and Jordan Lee<\/a> really got into puzzles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neither Lee or Preston had a car, so their entertainment consisted of riding their scooters, listening to music in the dorms and doing puzzles. On Saturday, the sophomores on the UT basketball team<\/a> recalled putting together pieces that depicted donuts, flowers and planets. Preston shared that putting together those works “was a vibe, though, very relaxing.”<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guards Breyanna Preston (1) and Rori Harmon (3) prepare for practice, March 19, 2026 as the Texas Longhorns host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin. Texas will play Missouri State on Friday.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) calls her team together for a huddle during the game against Georgia at the Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhornsguard Rori Harmon (3) hugs guard Bryanna Preston (1) after the game against Georgia at the Moody Center on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) waits for a play to set up in the second half as the Texas Longhorns play the Missouri State Bears in the first round of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin, March 20, 2026. Texas won the game 87-45.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) shoots over defense from Missouri State Bears forward Faith Lee (11) in the second half as the Texas Longhorns play the Missouri State Bears in the first round of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin, March 20, 2026. Texas won the game 87-45.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guards Bryanna Preston (1) and Jordan Lee (7) celebrate a score during the game against Mississippi State at the Moody Center on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) slots a pass to a teammate in the third quarter as the Longhorns take on the Richmond Spiders at the Moody Center in Austin, Nov. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Lee said she was recently gifted a 1,000-piece bird puzzle from former Texas coach Jody Conradt. The two then conceded that they haven’t had much time to do puzzles over the past six months; something about a basketball season and their sophomore years of college.<\/p>\n

More: Subscribe to the Statesman’s Texas sports newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

Lee and Preston plan on getting to the bird puzzle in the offseason. But unless they want to start working on that puzzle next week, Preston, Lee and the Longhorns will need to get past Oregon in the second round of the\u00a0NCAA Tournament<\/a> on Sunday. Texas (32-3) and Oregon (23-12) are respectively the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds in the “Fort Worth 3” section of the bracket, and a spot in a North Texas Sweet 16 game awaits Sunday’s winner.<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) slots a pass to a teammate in the third quarter as the Longhorns take on the Richmond Spiders at the Moody Center in Austin, Nov. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Texas opened its NCAA Tournament run with an 87-45 win Friday over Missouri State<\/a>. Oregon earned a 70-60 victory against Virginia Tech in the first round.<\/p>\n

“(We need to be) punching first, playing with pace out of the gate, especially against an experienced team like Oregon,” Preston said. “We’ve got to make sure we come out and make sure that they don’t get to jump on us.”<\/p>\n

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Lee ranks second among the Longhorns in scoring at 13.4 points per game, and the 6-foot guard has emerged as one of the team’s top perimeter defenders. Preston, meanwhile, has served as senior point guard Rori Harmon’s understudy throughout this season.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Sarah Graves (6) celebrates with guard Bryanna Preston (1) following the Longhorns\u2019 87-45 win over the Missouri State Bears in the first round of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin, March 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

With Bryanna Preston waiting, Texas won’t look in transfer portal for a point guard<\/p>\n

1-TEXAS VS. 8-OREGON<\/p>\n

When\/where:\u00a05 p.m. Sunday at Moody Center.<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0ESPN; 1300 AM.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Missouri State game, Preston greeted Texas assistant coach Sydney Carter with a customized handshake. That pregame dap happened to the side as the UT starters were being announced. Since she has come off the bench in each of her 51 games at Texas, Preston hasn’t yet gotten to run down the receiving line reserved for starters that ends with a teammate’s specialized salutation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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That is poised to change next season. Harmon’s college career will wrap up sometime in the upcoming weeks, and that will leave Preston and incoming freshman\u00a0Aaliah Spaight<\/a> as the only point guards on the Texas roster. If needed, All-American forward Madison Booker can also play the position.<\/p>\n

More: Madison Booker debuts new KD19 shoes, helps Texas to NCAA Tournament win<\/a><\/p>\n

Schaefer has long insisted that the 5-9 Preston will run the Texas offense next season. Last month, Schaefer even went as far to say that he wouldn’t entertain the idea of looking for a point guard in the transfer portal unless something unexpected happened with Preston or\u00a0Spaight.<\/p>\n

“We are going to be in great shape there,” Schaefer said. “Bry’s ready. I have complete and total confidence in her. She’s got the keys to the car. I don’t foresee doing anything in the portal at all.”<\/p>\n

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Preston has never lacked for confidence or swagger<\/a>, but she said this weekend that she wants to “be present where my feet are.” So that talk about her future can be left to her teammates, who believe she is ready for the leadership responsibilities that come with being Schaefer’s point guard.<\/p>\n

“If she don’t want to (lead), she needs to get to want to, because it’s going to be on her. Coach Schaefer is not going to give anybody else that responsibility on the team other than his point guard,” Harmon said. “But I can see\u00a0Bry and I can see that she wants it. She’ll definitely be that. I just want to continue to learn throughout this process. And she’ll be a junior, so she’s going to be an upperclassman, and there’s gonna be a lot to expect out of her. I think she’ll answer for sure.”<\/p>\n

Said Lee: “Particularly as a friend, Bry is very distinct in that she’s supportive all the time. You can’t put a value on someone that’s like that for you in your life. So for her to kind of take that next step, I’m like ecstatic to see it.”<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Bryanna Preston (1) brings the ball down the court in the second half as the Texas Longhorns play the Missouri State Bears in the first round of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin, March 20, 2026. Texas won the game 87-45.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Bryanna\u00a0Preston’s mindset was formed during 2024 NCAA Tournament run<\/p>\n

As Harmon’s backup, Preston has mostly played a complementary role this season while averaging 5.3 points and 2.4 assists per game. Preston is playing 14.9 minutes per game, but Schaefer notably opted to play her over a struggling Harmon in\u00a0the fourth quarters of games at LSU and Vanderbilt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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With Harmon getting to rest throughout much of the Longhorns’ lopsided win over Missouri State, Preston earned 18 minutes of playing time. She responded with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and four assists. Two of her points were scored after she dribbled the length of the court in the second quarter’s final seconds for a buzzer-beating\u00a0layup. She later added a pinch of razzle dazzle to the game’s highlight reel when she assisted Teya Sidberry on a fastbreak opportunity with a behind-the-back pass.<\/p>\n

“I like to give y’all a little show sometimes,” Preston said afterwards with a laugh. “As long as I make it count, because I know Coach’s not going to be too happy with me (if I miss), but as long as I keep the crowd entertained, get a little excitement going, I love doing that.”<\/p>\n

More: The A-B-C’s of Austin’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games<\/a><\/p>\n

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Preston got her feet wet during the 2025\u00a0NCAA Tournament with a 12-point performance off the bench that saved the Longhorns from a Sweet 16 setback against Tennessee<\/a>. One year later, Harmon said that “I think we’re going to really need Bry in this tournament as well.”<\/p>\n

“I’m in that mode,” Preston said. “I\u00a0gotta bring it every day. Some people might be having off nights and things like that, but I gotta make sure I bring it every night. I’m telling myself, I can’t afford (to not be ready). I gotta be ready when Coach calls me. Just having that mindset, it keeps me prepared.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When they arrived on the Texas Longhorns‘ campus two summers ago, Bryanna Preston and Jordan Lee really got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,46988,48876,81012,69852,83229,3112,74833,34522,537,5276,5279,63518],"class_list":["post-214786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-bryanna-preston","tag-march-madness","tag-march-madness-tournament","tag-ncaa-march-madness","tag-ncaa-march-madness-tournament","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-ncaa-women-s-basketball-tournament","tag-rori-harmon","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-women-s-basketball","tag-vic-schaefer","tag-women-s-college-world-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}