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Starting forward Justice Carlton didn’t mince words after her departure from Texas, but Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer isn’t planning on changing his hard-driving ways.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Vic Schaefer<\/a> ain\u2019t changing.<\/p>\n Well, some of his now-former players might have had a polite suggestion or two for the Texas<\/a> women\u2019s basketball coach. Of course, those would come on their way out the door after a hard loss to eventual national champion UCLA<\/a> in the Final Four semifinals and apparently even harder feelings.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The question remains. Should he change?<\/p>\n Probably. For his own good. And the good of his already outstanding program. The best coaches evolve same as players.<\/p>\n But Schaefer said this week at the SEC meetings that he\u2019s been reminded by his fellow coaches and administrators that his system isn\u2019t broken. But some players appeared broken, and three of them \u2014 two of them starters Jordan Lee and Justice Carlton \u2014 left.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Maybe it ain\u2019t broke, but some sure reached a breaking point. Schaefer has won 30 games or more each of the past three years and won either the SEC regular season or SEC Tournament the past two seasons.<\/p>\n He may have to fix a few things if he hopes to return to next year\u2019s Final Four for a third straight season because he will be forced to play freshmen before they\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n He can still push the defensive envelope as much as ever, if not with the same iron hand. No one has said he\u2019s a tyrant, but it doesn\u2019t take much reading between the lines to understand he can be very hard to play for.<\/p>\n Given the landscape of college athletics, Schaefer may be too demanding for some of his players. His no-nonsense style and at times harsh critiques<\/a> occasionally rub these players raw, and players who don\u2019t adapt or like his ways can leave at the drop of a hat in the age of the transfer portal.<\/p>\n In addition, his emphasis on 94-foot defense every game is very taxing and not always the preferred style for young players.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cAs I talk to other coaches, as I talk to people in the industry, administrators, I am constantly told this,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cI\u2019m constantly going, maybe I need to do this, maybe I should do that, and the answer I get from all of them all of the time is \u2018Why would you do anything different?\u2019 The proof\u2019s in the pudding. If the worst thing somebody can say is that we work hard, I\u2019m good with that.\u201d<\/p>\n This guy\u2019s fiercely competitive at 65 and equally driven. But does that drive some away? It just did as three of his best players headed into the transfer portal and went elsewhere.<\/p>\n Make no mistake.\u00a0Schaefer is one of the top 10 coaches in women\u2019s college basketball and, for my money, probably top five. He\u2019s been to four Final Fours and been a national runner-up twice. But he\u2019s yet to crack that exclusive club of active champions with the likes of Dawn Staley, crusty Geno Auriemma<\/a> and now Cori Close of the Bruins. And that omission burns inside of him.<\/p>\n Schaefer admits this was his best window to winning his first title and probably would have. He might have, had star Madison Booker<\/a> not missed a Final Four-record 17 straight shots and made just three of her 23 shots in the game. If the ice-cold shooter had connected on maybe five or six shots, Texas might have topped UCLA instead of losing 51-44 in Phoenix<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n After all, the Longhorns\u2019 typically relentless defense forced 23 Bruin turnovers and held down a Big Ten team that would have six players drafted by WNBA teams a month later.<\/p>\n But overcoming a season-low output of 41 points and a 30.8% shooting performance was asking too much.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just picked a bad night not to play well,\u201d Schaefer said Tuesday evening. \u201cI don\u2019t know that I\u2019ll ever get over that one. That one will haunt me the rest of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Now instead of returning four starters with tremendous momentum, Texas returns just two with some question marks and center Breya Cunningham is capable but not a difference-maker, averaging just eight points and eight rebounds a game. Schaefer admits he badly needs to develop the second part of a two-headed monster in the post as he had with Cunningham and the graduated Kyla Oldacre.<\/p>\n Schaefer, for his part, said he wasn\u2019t even surprised that three of his best players chose to leave his program through the transfer portal, which is hard to believe.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cNot really,\u201d he said in the Hilton Hotel hallway. \u201cTwo of them, people were involved in trying to see what else was out there with them. The third one had no option to come back, but I knew what was going on. I think what that says is that this is the day and age that we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n But it says more than that.<\/p>\n Schaefer has said he wasn\u2019t going to bring back disgruntled power forward Justice Carlton, who has said she didn\u2019t enjoy her two seasons at Texas under the extremely demanding head coach and chose to transfer to Houston<\/a> to join her younger sister Madison.<\/p>\n \u201cMy actual decision to leave Texas was pretty easy,\u201d Carlton told the Houston Chronicle\u2019s Joseph Duarte<\/a>. \u201cThey made it pretty easy. I just did not really enjoy my time that much there. I loved all my teammates, and I have great relationships with all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Schaefer couldn\u2019t have anticipated that Lee, his big-time scorer, and talented freshman wing Aaliyah Crump would also leave. Lee left for big Longhorn rival South Carolina<\/a>, and Crump, the nation\u2019s No. 5 recruit, headed out the door for Duke<\/a>. All are big losses.<\/p>\n As much distress as Schaefer has felt the last month, he knows he has to move on.<\/p>\n \u201cMy new team deserves my undivided attention,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n