At a press conference Thursday ahead of his team's first game in the NCAA Tournament, Texas women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer took a few minutes to talk about Auburn.

No, the No. 1-seeded Longhorns aren't meeting the Auburn Tigers at 2 p.m. Friday at Moody Center. Texas and Auburn haven't played each other since 1999.

But Schaefer couldn't help but crack a smile when he was asked two questions about Auburn over Zoom. That's because Auburn is coached by Johnnie Harris, who was a longtime assistant coach under Schaefer at both Mississippi State and Texas.

Auburn (20-11) will participate in a First Four tournament game against Arizona (17-15) on Thursday evening. Auburn last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019.

"I couldn't be more proud for Johnnie," Schaefer said. "She's with me a long time, and we spent lots of great times together. This doesn't surprise me at all."

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Schaefer continued: "We used to sit around and talk all the time about this business. And unfortunately in our business, there's good things about it and there's some not so good things about it, and we would just beat our head on the wall sometimes about how certain people go about their business. And we would just look at each other and go, you know what? We're going to do it the right way. Good things happen to good people.

"Let me tell you: Johnnie Harris is good people. And she is special to me. She's my sister. So happy for her, proud of her, and it does not surprise me at all."

This will be Auburn's first trip to the NCAA Tournament with Harris, who took over the program three seasons ago. Harris has compiled a 46-44 record with the Tigers.

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Before Auburn, Harris worked on Schaefer's staff during the entirety of his eight-year tenure at Mississippi State and she followed him to Austin for the 2020-21 season. Harris and Schaefer also worked together as assistants at Texas A&M and Arkansas.

"We always saw things in the same light. And we're both highly motivated," Schaefer said. "I don't need 'yes' people, and she wasn't a 'yes' person. She'd always keep it real with me and tell me what I needed to hear. Sometimes maybe not what I wanted to hear. You're talking about an individual that I have the highest and the utmost respect for and admiration."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas coach Vic Schaefer praises Auburn's Johnnie Harris before NCAAs