< Previous100 OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AUBURNTIGERS.COM She tried to dunk for the first time when she was six years old. Granted, the goals were lowered, and it was a YMCA game. She wasn’t successful, but she tried. And DeYona Gaston has had a basketball in her hand ever since. “Every time we went to the store, anywhere, I was always picking up a ball,” she said, “and just dribbling. It didn’t matter what size the ball was, I just kept dribbling with my hand. I just kind of loved it.” That love of the game has turned into a stellar career for the 6-2 graduate student from Pearland, Texas. A four-year standout for the Texas Longhorns, Gaston chose to spend her final season of collegiate eligibility at Auburn to play for the Tigers and head coach Johnnie Harris. And that journey started long before either of them set foot on the Plains. “From the beginning, Coach Harris recruited me,” Gaston said. “Coach Harris talked highly about me since I was in the seventh or eighth grade.” The No. 90 overall player coming out of high school according to ESPN, she originally committed to Mississippi State for the 2020-21 season. And when Harris followed former Bulldog head coach Vic Schaefer to Austin, Gaston came along, too. “She’s kind of just been there for me ever since I started college basketball,” Gaston said of Harris. “She’s like a mother figure, she takes care of her players. And the staff that surrounds her, they care, too.” Having grown up in a Houston suburb then spending her first four years of college in one of the nation’s largest cities, a change of pace on that front also made Auburn attractive. “I’ve never been in a real college town,” Gaston said, “so it’s kind of different from being in a city. It’s a lot more quiet. I like it.” Gaston was a mainstay in the Longhorns’ lineup the last three seasons, helping lead Texas to an Elite Eight appearance last year. As a junior, she started 32 games, averaging 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds and earning a selection to the All-Big 12 First Team as she helped Texas to a Big 12 regular-season title. Just before her senior season began, though, she suffered an ankle injury that kept her out of the starting lineup early in the year. But she was a force off the bench, averaging 8.4 points in 25 games and earning Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year honors. But her success on the Forty Acres was not without its difficulties early on. “Coming out of high school, I thought I had shin splints,” Gaston said. “So I played through it. But then when I got to college, they do all the tests, and there was a little hairline fracture in my shin.” She tried to play through it, but halfway through her freshman season, she had to shut it down and opt for surgery that included putting a rod in her leg. “Then something happened where it was still hurting,” she said. “Come to find out, the rod was too short. So I went to another doctor at Baylor, they put a new rod in, and it hasn’t been hurting since. “It’s a terrible surgery. I’m glad I wasn’t awake for it.” Now fully healthy and with one year of college basketball left, she’s ready to bring a winning mentality to an Auburn program that has been on the rise – from 10 wins Harris’ first season, to 16 wins and a WNIT appearance in 2023, to an NCAA berth and a 20-win season in 2024. “Winning,” she said, when asked what she was most looking forward to this season. “Just winning. That’s it. There’s nothing else to it.” OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DEYONA GASTON: ‘JUST WINNING’ BY WES TODD YellaWood ® brand pressure treated pine stands unrivaled in providing the best available protection against rot, fungal decay and termite attack. Enjoy the uncompromising beauty of a backyard made with high quality natural wood products from YellaWood ® brand pressure treated pine. Visit yellawood.com for more information. THE BEST IS ALWAYS IN DEM A ND . YellaWood® brand pressure treated products are treated with preservatives (the “Preservatives”) and preservative methods, and technologies of unrelated third parties. For details regarding the Preservatives, methods, and technologies used by Great Southern Wood Preserving, Incorporated, see www.yellawood.com/preservative or write us at P.O. Box 610, Abbeville, AL 36310. Ask dealer for warranty details. 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