Texas women's basketball junior Jordana Codio comes from a true basketball family.
Both her parents, Monge and Kara, played college basketball — though "not as this level," Kara added — and her younger brother, Cameron, just wrapped up his freshman season at Florida Gulf Coast University.
But to have Jordana in the Final Four "is a little surreal," Kara said.
"I never really thought about it then. But kids these days, they have an elite mindset. So Jordana probably saw it. And Cameron probably saw it," Kara said before Friday's national semifinal in Tampa. "But for Mom, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
"But it was my expectations, for sure," Monge quickly added.
And the fact that Jordana and the Longhorns reached the Final Four for the first time since 2003 just a couple hours away from where Jordana grew up in Winter Garden, Florida, just a couple hours away near Orlando, makes it all the more special.
Texas' run in the NCAA women's tournament ended Friday night with a 74-57 loss to fellow No. 1 seed South Carolina at Amalie Arena. Jordana made her only shot of the game, a 3-pointer.
Jordana played at American Heritage before transferring to, and graduating from, Monteverde Academy.
"It’s cool being able to see her so close to home. I didn’t have to get on a plane or nothing," Cameron said. "It’s pretty cool to see her play here.”
"She’s playing at the highest level. She’s as healthy as she’s ever been. She plays on a really good team," Monge said. "She came to Texas for a reason, and that was to win a national championship.”
The Codios spend a "good amount of time" in Texas, Kara added, going to as many games as possible. Cameron, however, can't make it as much as their parents, given his own schedule at FGCU.
The Eagles just wrapped up their season not too long ago, falling in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals to Cleveland State.
