AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas moved quickly to hire a new women's basketball coach, luring Vic Schaefer away from powerhouse Mississippi State and the Southeastern Conference on Sunday.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced the move by posting to Twitter a picture of himself with Schaefer and his family holding up the "Hook 'em Horns" hand signal. Del Conte did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The move came just two days after Texas dismissed Karen Aston, who had only one losing record in her eight seasons as coach and led the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 - or deeper into the NCAA tournament - on four occasions. Aston had reached the end of her contract, though, and it was not renewed.
Schaefer will inherit a program that went 19-11 last season but loses four of its top six scorers.
Schaefer, 59, was 221-62 games at Mississippi State, and the Bulldogs lost the NCAA championship game in 2017 and 2018. Mississippi State was 27-6 and ranked No. 9 before the 2019-20 season was cut short and the NCAA tournament canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He also led Mississippi State to one of the greatest upsets in women's basketball history when the team beat Connecticut in the Final Four in 2017, ending the Huskies' 111-game winning streak.
He was set to make $1.65 million at Mississippi State next season. Details of his Texas contract, which will have to be approved by the school's Board of Regents, were not immediately released.
The Bulldogs' signees for the 2020-21 season include former East Hamilton star Madison Hayes.
Schaefer will be the first male head coach to lead the Texas women's basketball program since Rodney Page in the 1970s, when the team was first elevated to varsity status. Page led the program from 1974 to 1976 and then was replaced by Jody Conradt, who won the school's only national championship in 1986 and led the program back to the Final Four in 2003.
Aston appeared to have the program back among the national elite when the Longhorns went deep into the NCAA tournament each year from 2015 to 2018. However, Texas couldn't break Baylor's stranglehold on the Big 12 in that span and got knocked out of the tournament in the first round in 2019.
The Longhorns were 19-11 before this past season was cut short.
Hiring Schaefer means Texas will have only two women as head coaches in its athletic programs: Angela Kelly (soccer) and Carol Capitani (swimming and diving).
A Texas native and a graduate of Texas A&M, Schaefer was the head coach at Sam Houston State for seven seasons and was an assistant at Arkansas and Texas A&M before taking over in Starkville.