Vic Schaefer Brings Back Former Assistant Coach
Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer added a familiar face on Friday, hiring former Longhorns assistant Elena Lovato as associate head coach.
The hiring returns Lovato to Schaefer’s staff after a one-year absence. She was part of Schaefer’s first staff at Texas for the 2020-21 season, during which she supported the Longhorns on their drive to the Elite Eight and helped Schaefer secure a Top 6 recruiting class that included Big 12 Freshman of the Year Rori Harmon.
Lovato is familiar with Schaefer’s system. Along with the one season at Texas, Lovato served under Schaefer for four total years at Mississippi State.
Part of her tenure was interrupted by a two-year stint as the head coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith, a Division II school where she won 37 games and led the program to a Division II playoff berth.
Lovato brings recruiting prowess, head-coaching experience and a national championship ring back to Austin. She led Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, to two NJCAA titles while going 113-8 in four seasons.
Schaefer must remake his entire coaching staff, as two assistants just took head-coaching jobs. Associate head coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett took the job at Missouri-Kansas City, while assistant coach April Phillips took the job at San Jose State. Assistant coach Calamity McEntire left to become the associate head coach at Illinois.
As far as the roster, all three seniors — forward Lauren Ebo, guard Audrey Warren and guard Joanne Allen-Taylor — are out the door. Ebo and Warren are in the transfer portal and will use their COVID-19 waiver season elsewhere. Allen-Taylor declared for pro basketball last month.
Texas also lost forward Latasha Lattimore to the transfer portal earlier this week.
Still, Schaefer has plenty to work with, starting with the return of Harmon, last year’s leading scorer, guard Aliyah Matharu, and two other starters in guard Shay Holle and forward DeYona Gaston. Forward Aaliyah Moore figures to be the fifth starter after a tremendous NCAA Tournament.
Guard Kyndall Hunter, another member of the 2021 recruiting class, is set to return, along with a pair of highly-touted junior college transfers that barely played — guard Kobe King-Hawea and forward Femme Masudi.
Texas has a Top 10 class coming in for 2022 with guard Jordana Codio (Montverde Academy, Jupiter, Fla.), forward Amina Muhammad (DeSoto, Texas) and guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (Sioux Falls, S.D.).
Texas also has a Class of 2023 commitment, as they picked one up from San Antonio (TX) Reagan guard Samantha Wagner.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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