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Even with a recent coaching change, 2020 signee Elyssa Coleman is committed to The University of Texas.
Returner Allen-Taylor & Signee Coleman Surprised By UT Coaching Change; Plan To Play For Schaefer
One of the biggest news announcements of the past week was The University of Texas vice president and athletic director Chris Del Conte's decision to not extend eight-year women's basketball coach Karen Aston's contract past its current August 31, 2020 end date.
Whenever a coaching change happens, there's immediately the question about who will succeed the previous leader. By Sunday, that person had been identified and hired. It was former Mississippi State and Sam Houston State head coach Vic Schaefer. The Austin native graduated from Houston Lutheran High School and later Texas A&M University before leading Mississippi State to the 2017 and 2018 NCAA championship games in his best coaching seasons to date.
A change at the head coaching position of a program usually affects the current lineup for years to come. Heading into the 2020-2021 season, seven of Texas' 12 players from the 2019-2020 campaign are eligible to come back. That includes guard Joanne Allen-Taylor, who graduated from Cypress Falls High School in 2018. She grew as a basketball player during Coach Aston's Texas tenure and will miss her because of that.
"She helped me grow by pushing me to not only work and better my game, but she challenged me to strive for the best on and off the court," Allen-Taylor said of Aston. "We had so much fun as a team together. The moment that sits with me the most...is how proud she was of us when we beat [nation No. 1] Stanford in December."
That's why it was hard to hear the news of Aston's departure. Allen-Taylor was at home when she received the call about it.
"Obviously, I was shocked and devastated," said Allen-Taylor. "Everything was running through my mind. I was hurt about it [and] it's still sad to think about."
Texas women's basketball recruits are other affected athletes. That includes the 2020 class, which signed before Aston's exit was announced. If nothing changes, the incoming talent will include Atascocita's Elyssa Coleman, Baytown Sterling's Precious Johnson, Westlake's Shay Holle, [Chatsworth, California] Sierra Canyon School's Ashley Chevalier and Harvard University graduate transfer Katie Benzan.
Coleman enjoyed her time with Aston during the recruiting process, including the day Aston saw one of Coleman's games in Virginia and offered her a spot on Texas' team.
"Being locked in my house, I've been on my phone way more," said Coleman. "I was scrolling on my timeline on Twitter and saw the article about her contract not being renewed. I was in complete shock since I've been talking to the staff all week."
But, the change to the program hasn't halted Coleman's excitement for the program or interest in being a Longhorn.
"Of course, I'm staying," said Coleman. "Mainly because I've made my decision on not only the coaching staff, but on how amazing The University of Texas is all the way around. I'm super excited for what the future has to hold for our program with such an accomplished coach like Vic Schaefer."
Along with Coleman, the Longhorns' women's basketball roster will feature a dedicated returner in Allen-Taylor.
"I'm definitely going to finish my college career at Texas," said Allen-Taylor. "I chose this school because I believed I can be [a] part of the best of both worlds, competing at a high level on the court and getting an engineering degree."
"I think everybody who plays for Texas wants to leave their mark," she continued. "I want to finish where I started and leave something behind that I can be proud of. I'm excited to get to know the new coaching staff. I know Coach Schaefer has plans to compete for championships, as well as I do, so I'm ready to get to work."
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Pen to Paper: What to expect on Early National Signing Day
It is almost time to put pen to paper!
The Early National Signing Day is less than 24 hours away and area recruits are setting when and where they will be signing.
So, start with who is signing on Wednesday?
- University of Houston will be getting the talents of Foster DT Chidozie Nwankwo, set to sign his NLI at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. This is a solid get for the Cougars and Dana Holgorsen. Nwankwo will try and get another wrestling state championship in February to cap off his high school athletic career, after falling just short in the title match a year ago.
- University of Miami looks to be getting North Shore linebacker Corey Flagg Jr., who is set to sign his NLI at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. Flagg Jr. is a hard-hitting linebacker who can be the leader of a defensive unit. Flagg Jr. has helped guide North Shore back to the state championship game for a second-straight year.
- Texas A&M has to be excited on getting Devon Achane. The senior Fort Bend Marshall running back put on a show at his future home, Kyle Field, on Saturday rushing for 152 yards and three touchdowns and had five catches for 75 yards and a score in a 55-21 win over Boerne Champion. Following the win, Achane and his family got a tour of Kyle Field on a final official visit. Achane has surpassed 2,000 yards rushing for the year and has over 100 career rushing touchdowns. He is a playmaker that will make the Aggie faithful really happy.
- Fort Bend Marshall CB Avery Helm will be signing on Wednesday to the Florida Gators. Helm has been committed to the Gators since April. He will officially put pen to paper this week.
- Fort Bend Marshall OL Larry Moore will sign to Texas Tech on Wednesday.
- Lamar Consolidated RB Taye McWilliams will be signing to Baylor on Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. McWilliams has been verbally committed to Matt Rhule and the Bears since March and is currently their only running back for the 2020 class on the books. McWilliams rushed for 1,582 yards and 19 touchdowns.
- Tomball WR Demond Demas will be signing with Texas A&M on Wednesday.
- Cypress Creek LB Josh White is heading home to Baton Rouge. The 2019 Touchdown Club of Houston Defensive Player of the Year will be signing to LSU on Wednesday. White visited LSU over the weekend.
- Cy Lakes QB Sofian Massoud visited the University of Houston this past week and according to a post will be early enrolling in January. Massoud took the Houston-area by storm this season showing off his skills both running and passing. No announcement of him having a signing ceremony on Wednesday as of now.
- Cy Ridge defensive end Vernon Broughton Jr. will be signing with Texas on Wednesday at 2:50 p.m. at the school.
- Fort Bend Travis wide receiver Parker Washington will sign with Penn State in the morning at 9 a.m. Washington was a finalist for the Touchdown Club Offensive Player of the Year. He had a great senior year and showed off how dynamic he is at the receiver position. The senior really reminds me of a Danny Amendola, Wes Welker-type player. Smaller in stature but dynamic with the football.
So, who is not signing?
- Fort Bend Marshall QB Malik Hornsby announced via Twitter that he will be postponing his signing to February. The dual-threat signal-caller was originally verbally committed to North Carolina and Mack Brown. Could he follow teammate Devon Achane to College Station, he did visit there on November 15. Another landing spot could be Baylor, which has zero commitments from a quarterback for the 2020 class.
- Houston Sterling RB Frank Brown has announce he will wait until February. Did an official visit to Michigan State change some things for him? There's a good chance. Brown did at one point release a Top 8 but hasn't visited any schools except Michigan State of recent. The Spartans currently only have one running back committed for the 2020 class, which could make this a landing spot for him.
- North Shore RB Zach Evans has gone radio silence on what he will be doing. A few weeks ago he had eluded on his Twitter account that he would be making an announcement. But that never came. Evans is touted as the No. 1 recruit of the 2020 class and could wait until the All-American game to make his announcement. A few different teams have been in play for him including LSU, Georgia and Texas A&M. This might be the most anticipated announcement when it comes. Evans will try and help North Shore win its second-straight state title this weekend.
- Klein Oak CB Dwight McGlothern recently visited USC and earlier this fall visited Arkansas. We will see when he makes his decision, along with MacArthur's Joshua Eaton, who also visited USC recently.