- Shay Holle is a senior guard who has become a critical player for No. 1 Texas as the Longhorns have made a run to the Final Four.
- After considering transferring due to limited playing time her freshman year, Holle dedicated herself to improving her defense and became a starter.
- Holle is known for her positive attitude and willingness to do whatever the team needs, her teammates calling her the ‘glue girl.’
- The Longhorns face defending champion South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday night.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — She considered transferring after a freshman season of little playing time. Now, as a senior, Shay Holle is the winningest player in Texas women’s basketball history and critical to the No. 1 Longhorns as they prepare to play No. 1 South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday.
“Shay is like our glue girl,” Texas senior forward Taylor Jones said. “She is what holds our team together.”
Holle was a freshman when Vic Schaefer became the Texas head coach in 2020.
Watch Texas vs. South Carolina in Final Four on Fubo (free trial)
Her freshman year under a new coach did not play out how she imagined. She wasn’t on the court as much as she wanted to be. Her attitude and energy when she wasn’t getting playing time, though, reflected the player she’d be.
“It gave me such a good perspective of, like, how you can bring something to a team without being on the floor,” Holle said. “I was always on the practice team, with the guys on scout, just trying to prepare them for our game and just really finding the joy in that and the work.”
Her efforts boosted the team morale, and she became known as the player who “does all the gritty work and just shows up with a positive attitude,” Jones said.
After her freshman season, Holle sat down with Schaefer to discuss her future as a Longhorn. She could leave her dream school, go to a mid-major school and quickly be an all-conference player. Or she could stay.
“If she was going to be at Texas, she had to get better,” Schaefer said.
“He told me, ‘If you can defend, not turn the ball over and make an open shot, you’ll find yourself on the floor,’” Holle said.
Holle spent the following months playing one-on-one with the male practice-squad players to improve her defense. By the end of her sophomore season, she was a starter.
Leading defender Rori Harmon had torn her ACL and was out for the rest of the season. Schaefer needed someone to step up and become the Longhorns’ best defensive player.
“(It was) Shay Holle,” Schaefer said. “She and I would have never dreamed that would happen two years before that, or even the year before, to be known as our best defender.”
Holle also became a leading defender in her conference, making the Big 12 All-Defensive Team last season.
Because of her freshman year on the bench, Holle has the mindset of finding joy in whatever role she needs to fill for her team.
As a fifth-year senior, she plays nearly 26 minutes every game, third-most on the team, and averages 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Those numbers aren’t eye-popping, but her role isn’t to have the best stats.
“To be able to go to the Final Four with Coach Schaefer my last year, it’s so special,” said Holle, who is playing in her first Final Four. “This is something I will remember forever, tell (my) kids about.”
Texas vs. South Carolina: Date, time, TV channel, where to watch
- Date: Friday, April 4
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live Stream: Fubo
Popi Márquez is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.