Backed by family and ambition, a healthy DeYona Gaston steps up for No. 20 Texas

Like most basketball players, Texas junior DeYona Gaston has a pregame routine.

She tries to meditate as she shoots during warmups. She goes over the most recent advice given to her by former Longhorns teammate Audrey Warren and she'll think back to the pep talk she received earlier that day from her parents. As she is introduced with the other starters, Gaston hops into her version of the Sturdy dance and the Longhorns follow along. And finally, Gaston will wait until the last minute — usually as head coach Vic Schaefer gives his final instructions — to tuck in her jersey.

Then Gaston gets to work.

Averaging 12.3 points per game, Gaston is currently the leading scorer for a Texas team that sits in first place in the Big 12 standings and is No. 20 in the country. Texas (18-6, 9-2) hosts Texas Tech (16-7, 4-6) on Wednesday night. This past Saturday, Gaston scored a career-high 24 points in the 68-65 win at Kansas. On five occasions in Big 12 play, the 6-foot-2 forward has scored more than 10 points while shooting at least .500 from the field.

"Oh, she's good. She's very good. Gaston is very, very good," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk recently said. "I think DeYona Gaston is one of the best players in our league. I think she's incredible."

One door closes, another one opens

Back in December, Gaston established what were then career-high totals for scoring and rebounds during a 107-54 win over Alabama State. But she was in no mood to celebrate those 20 points and 16 rebounds afterward. During the first quarter of that game, sophomore forward Aaliyah Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury and Gaston was despondent in the postgame press conference.

The injury to Moore, however, has since allowed Schaefer to use Gaston at her natural position. When on the floor with Moore, Gaston had to play the role of a traditional center. Now those center minutes go to Khadija Faye and Taylor Jones, allowing Gaston to be stretched from the paint to the perimeter.

"To be honest, I love playing the four," Gaston said. "I don't too much like playing a five because you're kind of just down there. I want to be in the action. I want to be up there with the guards."

In the 15 games since Moore's injury, Gaston is averaging 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds. She is shooting just over 56% from the floor.

After Gaston led Texas to a 68-55 win at Baylor last month with a 13-point, 11-rebound performance, Schaefer told the Waco media that his player has "a little NaLyssa (Smith) to her game." While playing at Baylor from 2018-22, Smith was a two-time Big 12 player of the year and the No. 2 pick in the 2022 WNBA draft. When later told of Schaefer's comments, Baylor coach Nicki Collen hesitated to connect those dots but did assess that Gaston had improved.

"I thought last year, she at times would take possessions off and I don't think she's doing that this year," Collen said. "I think she has really, really good touch around the rim. I think she's a capable rebounder. She's a good player."

Gaston, Schaefer have a history

Schaefer has consistently promised that a breakout was coming from Gaston if she could stay healthy. This is the same prospect from Pearland who signed with Schaefer while he was coaching at Mississippi State and then followed him to Austin.

When she was a freshman in high school, Gaston topped ESPN HoopGurlz's initial watch list for the Class of 2020. That recruiting class also featured the likes of Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink. Years later, Gaston said she appreciated that recognition but "I just wanted to stay humble and make sure my game speaks for itself instead of me speaking for my game."

Bueckers won the Naismith Trophy in 2021 and Clark, Reese and Brink are all All-Americans and contenders for this year's award. Gaston, meanwhile, has had her career slowed by injuries. Her junior season at Pearland was cut short by a knee injury. She fractured her shin 11 games into her first year with the Longhorns.

Gaston admitted those injuries took a "really big toll" and led her to question whether she should keep playing. She had dabbled in soccer and volleyball during her childhood, but basketball has been her sport of choice since she was 3 or 4 years old. Gaston laughed this week while recalling that she would often annoy her mother when even at the store, a young DeYona couldn't resist dribbling any ball she got her hands on.

"If she could find a square ball and play with it when she was little, she would," her father, Warren, recalled.

'Family is a big deal to me'

Gaston leaned on her family to get through those dark days. Shanett Gaston was once a two-year starter at Texas Southern and she'd remind her daughter that injuries are sometimes a part of the game. The family had also previously dealt with the injury bug with Gaston's older sister, Shanequa, who played at Langston University.

"We’d pray over her, we’d make sure that she's eating right and doing the therapy that is requested of her by the doctors," Shanett Gaston said. "When she's feeling low or down because she's not playing because she loves the game, we just try to always pick her spirit up. We’ll go fishing or take a family trip to try to get her mind off her injuries and try to heal."

“We just stick together as a family," Warren Gaston added. "We go through everything as a family, we go through the good and the bad as a family. That's the way we do it, that’s the way we always be.”

Gaston has also gotten to celebrate achievements with her people. After the win at Kansas, an emotional Gaston was spotted in the crowd embracing her parents, who have only missed two of her games this season.

Gaston favors her family over everything. She lists her parents and sister as both her biggest supporters and on-court critics. She switched her jersey from No. 23 to No. 5 after the 2020-21 season to honor her late cousin.

"Family is a big deal to me," Gaston said. "Like I'll do anything for my family, it could be the littlest things. I just take pride in how much my family has been there for me and they're the only people that's always going to be there to love you no matter what."

Often reserved and soft-spoken in media settings, Gaston is neither of those things when she's among those with whom she's comfortable. Jones said that Gaston "brightens up a room anytime that she walks in." Senior guard Sonya Morris described her as "definitely the goofiest, probably the funniest" member of the team.

Gaston insists that her goofy personality is something that was passed down to her by her father. But she has a serious side, too, especially when it comes to basketball.

Going back to Schaefer's comparisons to Smith, Gaston is flattered. "I love her game," Gaston said.

Gaston, though, is setting her sights higher. Truth be told, she wants to be like Candace Parker. Gaston has met the legendary hoopster once. Parker is a long-time friend of UT assistant coach Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and attended the Longhorns’ game against Princeton in November. Gaston admires Parker's height, handles, competitive drive and ability to score on all three levels.

"You've got to set the bar high," Gaston said. "So I tried to set it as high as I can."

Wednesday's game

Texas Tech (16-7, 4-6) at No. 20 Texas (18-6, 9-2), 7 p.m., LHN, 105.3

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: DeYona Gaston continues to improve for Texas women's basketball team