411 on the Forty: Clarissa Davis’ No. 24 To Be Retired In March

By Riley Zayas

Hanging from the rafters of the Frank Erwin Center is a group of burnt orange banners, each bearing a name and a number. This is an elite class. The best to play for Texas basketball are honored there by having their jersey numbers retired. Simply put, it sets them apart from everyone else who has ever taken the court for UT througout its deep history of hoops.

Clarissa Davis will be the next. The decision to retire her No. 24 has [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]been a long time coming, as Davis was one of the best ever in Texas women’s hoops. She will be honored March 8 prior to UT’s final home game of the season against Oklahoma State

Davis, now Davis-Wrightsil, was one of Texas’ go-to players during her four seasons on Judy Conradt’s squad from 1985-89.

She played a key role in the Longhorns’ perfect 34-0 record and national title during the 1985-86 season, earning the 1986 Final Four Most Valuable Player award after she scored56 points and brought down 32 rebounds in victories over Western Kentucky and USC. Davis was only a freshman that season and despite a lack of experience at the college level, played in every game and led the team in boards with 262.

Her last three years on the Forty Acres were just as successful as her first, as she took home the Naismith Trophy, the national player of the year award, in 1987 and 1989. She also was elected into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and was one of the inaugural inductees into the UT Athletics Hall of Honor in 2000.

While her rebounding skills were well known and a huge part of her success, she developed into UT’s leading scorer her final three seasons on the Forty Acres, is one of just three players in program history to eclipse the 2,000-point mark and is the all-time career leader in scoring average with an average of 19.9 points per game.

Davis will become just the second player in Texas women’s basketball history to have her number retired after Kamie Ethridge’s No. 33 was retired in September 2019.

New faces on the Forty Acres in 2020
This past week saw the start of a new year, which means it’s time to introduce to you the newest faces on the Forty, coaches who are sure to bring success to Texas athletics.

Football: Mike Yurich — The former Ohio State passing game coordinator was hired days before the Valero Alamo Bowl when he was signed on as the offensive coordinator for the Horns. A former college quarterback, Yurich has had tremendous success developing and improving some of the country’s best college quarterbacks like Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph and Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and will try to replicate that success with UT quarterback Sam Ehlingher, who will return for his senior year with hopes of contending for the Heisman trophy. The Buckeyes’ passing attack was key in the team reaching the College Football Playoff this past season and Yurich should bring some new ideas to Texas’ passing attack, despite the loss of leading receivers Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson to graduation.

Baseball: Troy Tulowitzki — The former Major League All-Star joined the UT baseball coaching staff just days after he announced his retirement from pro baseball. One of professional baseball’s best shortstops during a career that lasted from 2006-19 with the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and USA Baseball, Tulowitzki should provide the infielders and hitters with great instruction..

Baseball: Huston Street — A lifetime Longhorn, Street played for the Longhorns from 2002-05 and was one of UT’s aces when the team won the 2002 College World Series, and still holds the Longhorn record for career saves. The 2005 American League Rookie of the Year, Street will assist in the coaching of the pitching staff this season as a student assistant.

Women’s basketball: Terry Nooner — Coming to Austin from the NBA, where he was an assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nooner joined the UT women’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant prior to the 2019-20 season, after Karen Aston lost assistant Tiffany Jackson-Jones in August.

Nooner’s work with UT’s post players already has begun to reveal itself as both forward Joyner Holmes and post Charli Collier each have picked up weekly honors and shown improvement in the rebounding game. Nooner’s résumé includes previous stints at Southern Illinois, Kansas, Alabama at Maryland, where he helped the country’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2016 and helped the team lead the nation in rebounding margin in 2016.

Men’s basketball: Luke Yaklich — Yaklich already is part of the way through his first season on the Forty, but the men’s basketball assistant is still one of the newest faces after coming from the deep north, where he coached at Michigan for two seasons. During his time in Ann Arbor, he played a role in the team’s back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances, including a spot in the 2018 NCAA Championship game and top-25 rankings. An associate head coach to UT head coach Shaka Smart, Yaklich has brought the Wolverines’ level of success to Austin, where the Horns finished non-conference play with a 10-2 record.
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