As an assistant coach at Arkansas in the late 1990s, Vic Schaefer closely studied Pat Summitt and her dominant Tennessee teams.
Schaefer observed how Tennessee’s size and physicality set the Lady Vols apart. He noticed how their aggressive mindset helped them frustrate opponents to no end.
The 3-point line had been in place for only two seasons when Tennessee won its first title in 1989, attempting fewer than one per game that season. Even a decade later, as Schaefer was watching from an opposing SEC sideline, the Lady Vols took fewer than 10 per game as they opted to punish opponents on the inside.
“When I watched her teams, I just always said, ‘When I get my head coaching job again, I want my teams to look like hers and to play like hers,’” said Schaefer, who has coached for 20 years at Sam Houston State, Mississippi State and now Texas.
Basketball has changed a lot since then. Yet if Schaefer’s top-seeded Longhorns continue to advance through the NCAA Tournament, they’ll succeed by playing a style that looks much more like Summitt’s teams than practically everyone else in the country in 2025.
Yes, Schaefer and Texas are known for their physical defense. But what makes Texas a true rarity is that amid a 3-point revolution across all levels of basketball, the Longhorns proudly eschew the trend. In fact, they barely even attempt the long ball.
Texas has the lowest 3-point rate of any women’s basketball team in the nation. Entering the NCAA Tournament, only 17.1 percent of Texas’ shots had been 3-pointers this season. That number dropped even lower after the first two rounds, a combined 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Longhorns are 3-0 this season in games when they make no 3-pointers, making a combined 0 of 16 in wins against DePaul, South Carolina and, in the second round, Illinois (0 of 5).
And yet, despite conventional coaching strategies, the Longhorns have won more than almost anyone, going 33-3, earning a share of the SEC regular-season championship and now, as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they’re eyeing a national championship.
“The proof’s in the pudding,” Schaefer said.
Indeed.
Apart from its 3-pointers, Texas’ offense thrives because it is elite at practically everything else. Heading into March Madness, the Longhorns were eighth nationally in paint-points per game, second in second-chance points, eighth in points off turnover and second in offensive rebound percentage. They had the seventh-best offensive rating, according to CBB Analytics.
Combine their offensive efficiency with a top-five defense, it explains why Texas is having such a special season. With a Sweet 16 win Saturday against No. 5 seed Tennessee, the Longhorns can reach the Elite Eight for the second straight season and the fourth time in Schaefer’s five years at Texas.
“I think it’s very clear who we are and what we do here at Texas,” Schaefer said. “We take great pride in that.”
But can a team that often ignores the 3-pointer win a national championship? The Longhorns shoot only 29.6 percent on triples, which would be the lowest for a title team since — you guessed it — Summitt’s championships in 1996 (28.7 percent) and 1989 (23.1 percent).
Schaefer’s teams are generally built around two pillars. The first is a dynamic point guard who can manage a team and a game. Senior guard Rori Harmon is that player for this season’s Longhorns, although SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker was Texas’ lead ballhandler for much of last year after Harmon went out with an ACL tear. Booker rarely takes a 3-pointer; she attempted just 59 this season and made 25 of them. Harmon has made just 10 of 37 from long range.
The second foundational aspect is an old-school center — someone who can patrol the paint on the inside.
Schaefer began coaching at a time when centers such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon dominated the NBA, making him a staunch believer in the traditional post player. The success of Summitt’s Lady Vols only further impressed their importance on him.
On this year’s Longhorns, that’s sixth-year senior Taylor Jones and junior Kyla Oldacre. Neither has attempted a 3-pointer this season, but both shoot nearly 70 percent from around the rim.
“Bigs, they’re so precious, so valuable and they impact the game in such a big way,” Schaefer said.
It’s why even as other programs around the country look for stretch fives, Schaefer doesn’t sacrifice recruiting bigs who gravitate toward the paint for bigs who might camp out on the perimeter. He looks for frontcourt players he calls “aircraft carriers” and “forgiveness players” for how they can curtail dribble penetration and take away easy shots.
“I want kids that understand the importance of not just coming in the gym and standing around shooting 500 3s,” Schaefer said.
That idea has been consistent throughout his coaching career. During his first season as a head coach at Sam Houston State in 1990, Schaefer’s Bearkats attempted 13.2 3-pointers per game. That’s just over two more attempts than this year’s Longhorns.
Over his seven years at Sam Houston, his teams averaged almost the same number of 3s as his Texas teams of the last five seasons.
If it ain’t broke, why change it?
Schaefer recruits to a fit. He wants players who are tough, aggressive and physical. Others in the SEC look for the same qualities, including LSU’s Kim Mulkey and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley. Each is also in the bottom 15th percentile of 3-point rate this season.
“If you’re not going to be able to control the 3-point line, then you have to control the paint,” Staley said.
Compared to Elite Eight teams of the past five NCAA Tournaments, only last year’s Longhorns and Mulkey’s Baylor teams in 2018-19 and 2020-21 took fewer 3s than Texas this year.
Schaefer doesn’t want his players settling. He reminds them often that he’d rather be efficient and have offensive repertoires that aren’t totally reliant on long-range shooting. Last season, the Longhorns ranked last nationally in 3-point rate, and they came in at 359th out of 361 Division I teams in 2023-23. In 2021-22, they were in the bottom 15 nationally, too.
Still, he doesn’t have a total aversion to 3-pointers. He coached at Mississippi State from 2012 to 2020, making back-to-back title game appearances in 2017 and 2018 with two of his most prolific 3-point teams.
The 2017-18 Bulldogs had three players shoot 40 percent or better on 3s, and all averaged four triples per game. That season, Mississippi State’s 38.9 percent 3-point shooting rate was seventh best nationally. Schaefer often would turn to his assistants during practices and say, “This must be how it feels to coach the Golden State Warriors.”
Nobody’s shooting on this season’s Longhorns would be mistaken for Stephen Curry’s, but Schaefer is adamant that this group stands out among his 20-year head-coaching career.
“This team might be the best shooting team I’ve ever had,” he said.
you can call her “Midrange Maddie” 👩🍳🤘#HookEm | @maddiewitdab_ pic.twitter.com/FuekLdXoqd
— Texas Women’s Basketball (@TexasWBB) March 24, 2025
The Longhorns’ 3-point data might not suggest that — they shoot just 29.5 percent from 3-point range — but their midrange prowess does. In another reflection of mastering a shot some programs have outlawed from their systems, the Lornhorns spend time at every practice focusing on midrange jumpers.
They conduct a daily drill in which the entire team takes part in four minutes of continuous shooting from the short corners and the free-throw line. Schaefer put players through the drill back when he was an assistant at Texas A&M from 2003 to 2012. The 2011 Aggies, who won the national championship, made 90 shots on average at each practice. This season, Texas makes 135, Schaefer said.
How successful the Longhorns are at trading 2s for 3s could determine how far they go in this year’s tournament. Against Tennessee on Saturday, the contrasting styles will be evident.
Under first-year coach Kim Caldwell, the Lady Vols press throughout the game and utilize hockey sub rotations. They also shoot more 3-pointers than almost any other team in the country, launching 31.2 per game. When the teams met in January, Tennessee made nine 3-pointers, while the Longhorns made just one of their six attempts. Texas staved off an upset, winning 80-76.
Surely, the Lady Vols will try to run-and-shoot again. Texas will want to control the pace, utilize its size advantage and control the paint on both ends.
“You do what you do. You are who you are,” Schaefer said. “It’s been really good for us.”
But the question is, will it be good enough to advance?
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; graphics: John Bradford / The Athletic; photo: John Rivera / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)