AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — From Final Four to roster rebuild. That's what Texas women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer is facing after a group of key players hit the transfer portal this week.
Schaefer still has three-time All-American Madison Booker to build around, but the departures were jarring. A program coming off consecutive Final Four appearances was expecting to refresh and reload behind Booker, a group of seasoned veterans and one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
Texas was already losing starting point guard Rori Harmon and center Kyla Oldacre, as well as key reserve forward Teya Sidberry as all three had expired their college eligibility.
But soon after the transfer portal opened, a trio of players who were expected to be major contributors next year bolted.
Sophomore Jordan Lee, the team’s second-leading scorer who started 38 games and averaged 13.2 points and was the team's top 3-point shooter, was among them. So was Aaliyah Crump, who was one of the top recruits in the country in 2025. She missed 15 games last season with a foot injury but played in 24, averaging 7.9 points.
And sophomore Justice Carlton, who flashed moments of brilliance but also struggled with consistency, started 28 games and averaged 8.5 points. Also transferring is Aaliyah Moore, who missed last season with an injury.
Carlton posted on social media that she had wanted to play her entire career at Texas.
“I never imagined I'd transfer,” she wrote, “But some things just don't work.”
Schaefer did not plan to make a comment on the departures, a team spokesman said.
The players transferring out leave a team that has rocketed into the national elite in Schaefer's six seasons. In that span, Texas returned to the Final Four for the first time since 2003 and advanced to the Elite Eight three other times.
Texas won a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season title in 2025 and won the league tournament this past season. Texas also earned No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament the last three years.
Schaefer has proven to be a demanding coach to play for, and willing to publicly criticize his players.
After an 18-point loss in Nashville on Feb. 12, he went on a postgame rant that questioned his team’s heart and called the Longhorns “probably the softest team I’ve had in years.”
They didn't lose again until the Final Four. Schaefer's comments followed the team to Phoenix, where Harmon and Booker said the players had responded well to their coach's rebuke.
The roster needs an overhaul for next season but is far from bare. Schaefer's incoming recruiting class is ranked among the best in the nation, highlighted by guard Addison Bjorn and forward Brihanna Crittendon.
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Texas forward Madison Booker (35) drives against UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) during the first half of a women's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer, right, encourages his players at Texas forward Madison Booker (35) runs the court during practice prior to the national semifinals Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Adam Scott officially is set for his 100th consecutive major next month in the U.S. Open, which added 24 players to the field from the world ranking on Monday. Sixteen players also earned spots at qualifiers in England and Dallas.
Scott effectively secured his spot among the top 60 in the world with a tie for fourth in the Cadillac Championship at Doral. He is at No. 49 in this week's ranking, which the U.S. Open uses to determine who avoids qualifying.
Others exempt through the top 60 in the world ranking include Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Alex Smalley, who tied for second in the PGA Championship to move up 36 spots to No. 42.
Matti Schmid, who had the lead during the final round of the PGA Championship and wound up in a tie for fourth, earned one of five exemptions awarded to leading players in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour who were not already exempt.
The exemptions finalized Monday meant 70 players in the 156-man field will be forced to qualify, an unusually low number for a major that prefers that roughly half the field go through qualifying. The U.S. Open is June 18-21 at Shinnecock on New York's Long Island.
Adding to the field Monday were two final qualifying events.
Nathan Kimsey of England had a 62 in his second round at Walton Heath to earn one of seven spots out of England. He will be making his U.S. Open debut.
Kimsey was joined by Rocco Repetto Taylor, Filippo Celli, Matthew Jordan, Angel Hidalgo, Niklas Norgaard and Ugo Coussaud, who earned the final spot in a 4-for-1 playoff.
Thomas Detry ended nine days of U.S. Open misfortune by losing out in England playoff, and missing out in the bid for two alternate spots.
Detry was set to earn an exemption from LIV Golf until Lucas Herbert won in Virginia on May 10. He was at No. 61 in the world going into the PGA Championship but missed a 12-foot birdie putt on his final hole to miss the cut by one shot. And then he flew to London.
All is not lost. Detry still has two tournaments — the Soudal Open this week in his native Belgium and LIV Golf Korea the following week — to move into the top 60 before the final cutoff for the world ranking on June 14.
The Dallas qualifier — the first of 11 to be held in North America over the next month — featured Sergio Garcia among 14 players from LIV Golf.
LIV's Peter Uihlein won the qualifier and was one of three LIV players to get through, joined by 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and Caleb Surratt. McDowell who will play in the championship for the first time since 2020, the last year of his exemption for winning at Pebble Beach a decade earlier.
Garcia fell two shots short of a six-way playoff for the last spot, won by Surratt. The other players to qualify at Dallas Athletic Club were Tom Kim, Cooper Dossey, Manav Shah, Jimmy Stanger, Adrien Dumont de Chassart and TK Kim.
Scott's streak began with the 2001 British Open, and he has not missed a major since, even going through U.S. Open qualifying when he wasn't exempt. It's the longest streak since Jack Nicklaus played in 146 in a row, from the 1962 Masters through the 1998 U.S. Open.
Scott's one close call was breaking a bone in his hand before the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, but he played — grouped with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the opening two rounds — and tied for 26th that week.
“I would rather win some stuff, and let’s celebrate winning the U.S. Open than just playing in it,” Scott said three weeks ago. “I can give myself a pat on the back for hanging in there and playing all these events. I think there’s some luck in it, but I think I’ve had generally great advice around me from a physical and training standpoint that’s kept me healthy and pretty much injury-free.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Alex Smalley hits from the fourth tee during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Matti Schmid, of Germany, hits from the bunker on the 13th green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Adam Scott, of Australia, looks at his ball on the 10th green during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
