Jose Loera

NEWS: Lauren Hurst is planning on entering the transfer portal. The Tennessee native will leave after one season on Rocky Top. She shot 48.8% from the field.

In June 1986, 24-year-old model Marla Hanson stepped out of a Manhattan bar expecting to collect an $850 security deposit from her landlord, Steve Roth. Instead, two men he hired ambushed her. They held her down and slashed her face with razor blades—leaving deep, permanent scars that required over 100 stitches and ended her rising modeling career in an instant. Roth’s motive? Rejected romantic advances and a petty dispute over rent money. During the trial, the defense tried to blame her—questioning her clothes, her dating life, and her Texas roots. The cross-examination, she later said, hurt almost as much as the attack itself. But Marla refused to hide. She showed up to court without makeup, scars visible for the world to see: “I wanted people to see what they had done.” All three men were convicted. Marla went on to become a powerful voice for victims’ rights, an advocate for reforming how the justice system treats survivors, and even a screenwriter (credits on The Blackout and Subway Stories). Her story is a raw reminder of resilience: beauty isn’t just skin deep, and strength is what you build when the world tries to break you.

A special guest here in San Jose to watch Texas in the Sweet 16. Steve Sarkisian made the trip out to his home state of California.