Aaliyah Moore just really wants to play basketball.

A junior forward at Texas, Moore has been working her way back from the knee injury that cut short her sophomore season. She hasn't been cleared to fully return just yet, so she was relegated to MC duties at last week's Orange-White scrimmage and head coach Vic Schaefer ignored her pleas to play in a scrimmage against USC last weekend in Las Vegas. Schaefer himself looked exasperated while retelling a story about how he had to blow his whistle at a recent practice after Moore snuck herself into a full-court drill.

"She's chomping at the bit to play," Schaefer said.

It's unlikely that Moore will play in Thursday night's exhibition game against Midwestern State at Moody Center, and No. 13 Texas doesn't expect her to be available when the season starts next Wednesday, either. Whenever Moore does play next, it will be her first game since a 107-54 win over Alabama State on Dec. 11, 2022.

During the first quarter of that game, Moore hit the floor after a drive to the basket. Two days later, Texas announced that she had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Her season was over.

Initially, Moore said she refused to rewatch the play on which she got injured. Those fears, however, eventually subsided and she said her confidence is now "skyrocketing."

"Looking back now, it does not scare me," Moore said. "I've done the same move, driving down the left side, it's nothing. My confidence is there. I don't feel like my knee's not there. Like, I'm confident and I'm really excited to get back to playing. Y'all have no idea."

Moore was injured in the ninth game of the season, so she had to focus on her rehab as Texas went 26-10 and won a share of the Big 12 championship. But she was not alone.

'Definitely don't miss those days'

Sophomore Jordana Codio also was rehabbing a knee injury of her own during the entire 2022-23 season. And during the winter break, Gisella Maul joined the team as an early enrollee so she could work with the Texas staff on the knee she injured in high school.

Maul smirked last week while recalling the Peloton competitions that she'd have with Codio and Moore in the training room while the rest of the team was practicing. Most practices for them would involve rehab work, lifting weights, conditioning, shooting at side baskets and cheering on their teammates, Moore said.

"Definitely don't miss those days," she said.

Leaning on each other proved crucial

The rehabbing Longhorns didn't come up with a nickname for themselves. Codio, though, said that she would call Moore and Maul her "ACL twins" at times.

"I feel like it kind of made the process a little bit better, just us having each other, having each other's backs," Codio said. "If one of us was upset one day about something or just frustrated with what we're doing with our rehab and everything, we were just there for each other. I feel like us all having each other was definitely beneficial going through that process."

During their rehabs, Codio, Maul and Moore weren't all on the same timelines. Having already rehabbed a knee injury once, Codio was working her way back from having two revisions on a second ACL tear this time around and the Florida native entered the season knowing she'd need to redshirt. Moore got hurt in December. Maul was injured the previous March while playing in an AAU tournament.

That lack of overlap worked for the players, though. They could lean on each other — as well as veteran guard Shaylee Gonzales, who missed her 2019-20 season at BYU with a knee injury — for advice.

"It definitely helps when you can talk to somebody about your injury because ACLs are a very, very different injury than an ankle sprain or even any other kind of injury," Maul said. "The best advice you can get from someone is someone who's been through the injury. So when you have people that are currently going through it and someone like Shaylee, who's already been through it, it's really helpful when you have questions or when you're feeling down about anything that you can go to people that have been through the same experiences as you."

Schaefer: 'I think all three are in a really good place'

When asked for his thoughts on how Codio, Maul and Moore went through their rehabs, Schaefer said they handled it well. At this point, he's more worried about the confidence of his players. "All three of them are at a point now where they probably have a good healthy leg. Now it's the part, can you overcome in your mind and I think all three are in a really good place," he opined.

Maul has been cleared to play for a while now and Codio was able to participate in the Orange-White scrimmage. Moore might not be ready yet, but the honorable mention selection on the Big 12's preseason team wants everyone to know she's coming.

When she does return, Moore won't need an introduction. As a freshman during the 2021-22 season, Moore blossomed during UT's postseason run to the Big 12 Tournament title and an Elite Eight appearance. At the time of her injury last year, she was averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Most Texas fans, though, have not seen the 6-foot-1 Codio or 5-11 Maul play. Rated by ESPN HoopGurlz as the No. 67 recruit in the Class of 2022, Codio prefers to think of herself as a versatile forward even though she's listed on the roster as a guard. Maul was the 2022 Gatorade player of the year in Texas, a two-time state champion at Cedar Park High School and a top-40 prospect in the Class of 2023.

"My primary position is a three/four, small forward, but also a guard and I feel like I'm pretty versatile with my game. The three-ball is something that I've definitely been working on, especially with all the time that I haven't been able to play," Codio said when asked to describe her game. "My mid-range game, being able to get to the hoop, running the floor, I feel like are definitely my strong suits. And also defensively, I love defense. I'm long so I'm kind of a mismatch for people sometimes on both offense and defense."

Said a self-assessing Maul: "I'd say that I'm very versatile. I can shoot, I can get to the basket. I feel like I have a very high IQ. Yeah, I'm just excited to showcase that."

Thursday's exhibition

Midwestern State at No. 13 Texas, 7 p.m., Moody Center, LHN

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball players bonded while rehabbing knee injuries