OKLAHOMA CITY — Three months ago, Vic Schaefer was preparing to coach his Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team at the Final Four. Texas fell short, falling to eventual champion UCLA, but the season was still a successful one as they also captured the SEC Championship.
On Thursday night at Devon Park, Schaefer ditched his sideline suit and tie for a burnt orange polo and shorts. Like many of the more than 12,000 people in attendance at the Women’s College World Series final on June 4, he was just a fan, there to support his friends and beloved Longhorns.
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Texas softball coach Mike White and Schaefer are golfing buddies, and in the fall, the softball team holds its annual Olympic week as a team bonding event. So they come over to Schaefer’s gym and play basketball for a few hours.
“Just so happy for him and these kids. It’s a really special team, a team that has been together a long time. I think he’s got 17 kids that are either in their second, third or fourth season with him,” Schaefer told USA TODAY Sports. “And that’s the way we try to do it in basketball. We try to recruit freshmen, we try to retain them, and develop them. That’s always been the secret to my success. I think it’s a great indicator of him, his staff, what they do, pouring into these kids.”
The wins that Schaefer has piled up on the basketball court and the victories White has captured on softball dirt are signs that women’s sports are booming at Texas in a way that no other school in the country is matching.
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Thursday night, the Longhorns won their second consecutive national championship in softball just months after making its second straight trip to the Final Four in women’s basketball. Add in other recent accomplishments, like a 2023 national championship in volleyball and golfer Farah O’Keefe’s individual national championship this season, and a case could easily be made that no program is succeeding in women’s sports right now like the Longhorns.
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“I think it’s a great example of what happens when you invest in something,” Schaefer said. “Our administration in Chris Del Conte, President Jim Davis, Chairman (Kevin) Eltife — they are so committed to all our sports. I think it’s a great indicator of what happens when you invest in something, and I’m excited to be a small part of it.”
Investment is indeed the key word here, because Texas is spending on women’s sports at a higher level than most other schools.
In fiscal year 2025, Texas spent about $10.9 million on operating expenses for women’s basketball — the fourth-highest figure nationally — according to data pulled by Matt Brown at Extra Points. The Longhorns were the eighth highest spender on softball expenses in the same fiscal year at just above $4 million, and the fourth-highest spender on volleyball at $5.1 million. Aside from Texas, Tennessee is the only other school that ranked in the top 10 of operational spending in fiscal year 2025 in all three sports.
For Texas, a result of that investment has been winning big. Since 2023, Texas has four team national champions between outdoor track and field, volleyball and softball, three trips to the Women’s College World Series final and two appearances in basketball’s Final Four. The Longhorns also won SEC Tournament titles in softball and women’s hoops this season.
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And since 2021, Texas owns four national titles in women’s rowing.
Schaefer is hoping to join the group of national championship winners at Texas.
Much was made this offseason about the Longhorns’ so-called basketball exodus, as Texas saw significant contributors in Jordan Lee, Aaliyah Crump, Justice Carlton and Aaliyah Moore enter the transfer portal. Lee signed with rival South Carolina, Crump landed at Duke, Carlton joined Houston and Moore — who missed this past season with an injury — was picked up by Tennessee.
But Schaefer is optimistic. He returns one of the best players in the country in three-time All-American Madison Booker, who is coming off a season where she won her third consecutive Cheryl Miller Award and was named SEC Tournament MVP. Joining Booker — who is likely to be a high pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft — is returning starter Breya Cunningham, Oklahoma transfer Zya Vann and five incoming freshmen who ranked inside ESPN’s top 50 recruits.
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Three of them — Addison Bjorn, Brihanna Crittendon and Aaliah Spaight — ranked inside the top 15. Schaefer believes they’re ready to help the Longhorns win.
“I’m really excited about them. Zya Vann is just going to be really, really good in our system,” Schaefer said. “Those freshmen that we got coming in, they can all play. They’re really special and highly rated. I think I’m as juiced up about this group as any I’ve had. I’m excited to get them in the gym and start trying to piece that puzzle together.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vic Schaefer explains why women’s sports are on the rise for Texas Longhorns
