2020 Recruiting - WBB

Was at a few of these games and saw Jamie Carey watching De'Yona Gaston. She's a very good 6'4 freshman post player. Great hands and finished well through contact, smooth mid range game. Look for her to be really REALLY good over the next few years.
 
utfannforlife said:
Was at a few of these games and saw Jamie Carey watching De'Yona Gaston. She's a very good 6'4 freshman post player. Great hands and finished well through contact, smooth mid range game. Look for her to be really REALLY good over the next few years.
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You aren't alone on Gaston, from Premier Basketball:
"Something that was very obvious early on watching pool play at this tournament was that there were many good young players here. Several freshman (class of 2020) stood out with DeYona Gaston (Pearland) and Deja Kelly (SA Johnson) being the obvious major attention getters. Gaston is talented and smooth and plays with a confidence and IQ of a veteran player. She will be another player in Texas that schools from all over the country will recruit. "

"Kelly is so incredibly fundamentally sound and simply seems to not miss open shots. She creates off the dribble to both the left and the right, makes her free throws, sinks threes with ease, and has a veteran presence on the floor. She doesn’t force anything as many young players do. She fills the stat sheet and is a major part of her team. Watch for SA Johnson to make a nice run this year."
 
Deja came close to a triple double against a game 16-2 Kerrville Tivy squad: 18 pts, 8 rebounds and 8 assists (5 steals).
 
utfannforlife said:
Most surprising thing in that graphic is that Duncanville has lost 2 times this year. I think Empress, Ariel & Tasia only lost once or twice in their entire HS career's
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Didn't notice that. IIRC, Duncanville's 105 game win streak with Ariel and Tasia ended in the state championship game against Manvel (Brianna Turner and Jordan Hosey).
 
Deja put up 26 points last night to help Johnson clinch at least a share of the district title - very nice point total season to date (605):



From article about the game:
Freshman guard Deja Kelly led all scorers with 26 points. She had 17 in the second half.

“I did a better job of attacking the basket more, being more aggressive and attacking the defenders’ hips, getting into them and behind able to finish in the second half,” Kelly said.

Very heady quote from a freshman about attacking the hips - great to see such a young player with a good grasp of the fundamentals. Working with John Lucas seems to really sink in and, even better, exhibits her commitment to the game and coachability.
 
Merritt had 11 in a 9 point win (Plano over Plano West) last night. Lolo Davenport (2018 Horns commit) had 26.
 
I went to Plano vs Plano East game last night. East surprisingly won by 11. I left in the 3rd quarter with East up by 18. Merritt is the real deal. She appears all of 6-2" and is athletic, quick, fast and physical. Her long, slim athletic build is perfect for a basketball player. Her skills are good and just need time and work to be an impact D-1 player. Excellent body language as she has to fight through lots of physicality. She has tons of upside and is very projectionable. Hope she likes burnt orange. She didn't score a lot and the box score was not in,the DMNEWS today. But it doesn't matter. She is a take all day long.
 
Deja with 21 points in her first ever playoff game/victory as SA Johnson knocks off Austin Westlake 84-53.
 
On the ESPNW site, they have UT commit Deja Kelly at 22. Jordan Merritt is 28. Holmes is 20. Gaston is 14. Sara Andrews, PG of Irving McArthur is No. 1. So is Kelly a PG all the way........or could she slide over and be considered a combo guard and still stay with us? Does Kelly committing to us take us out of the running for Andrews? I don’t think I have heard or read anything on where Andrews is looking. Still a long time off but it is never too early to speculate way out ahead. Anybody have any inside information? Gusters a 6'4" post from Duncanville is 17. Myra Gordon, little sister of the UConn commit, is 15.
 
flash34 said:
On the ESPNW site, they have UT commit Deja Kelly at 22. Jordan Merritt is 28. Holmes is 20. Gaston is 14. Sara Andrews, PG of Irving McArthur is No. 1. So is Kelly a PG all the way........or could she slide over and be considered a combo guard and still stay with us? Does Kelly committing to us take us out of the running for Andrews? I don’t think I have heard or read anything on where Andrews is looking. Still a long time off but it is never too early to speculate way out ahead. Anybody have any inside information? Gusters a 6'4" post from Duncanville is 17. Myra Gordon, little sister of the UConn commit, is 15.
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Not to be a jerk but the 2020s are still being listed alphabetically - they haven't ranked them yet.
 
Deja Kelly is the daughter of former men's hoopster, Darren Kelly. I recall reading somewhere that she has loved Texas her whole life. Hopefully, I'm not misremembering. Don't recall if her Mom is also a Texas graduate. Regardless, she is a legacy; so, that can't hurt.

Anything can happen down the road, but as long she continue to attend Longhorn football and hoops games (and tweets about them), I won't worry about the firmness of her verbal commitment.
 
DFW.....being an engineer........seeing things alphabetically and not by numbers is alien to me. Appreciate the clarity. I sure wish Kelly and her team made it to SA, so we can lay our eyeballs on her play. Lots of Texas kids on that list so lots of opportunity to scout em.
 
Moooooo said:
Deja Kelly is the daughter of former men's hoopster, Darren Kelly. I recall reading somewhere that she has loved Texas her whole life. Hopefully, I'm not misremembering. Don't recall if her Mom is also a Texas graduate. Regardless, she is a legacy; so, that can't hurt.

Anything can happen down the road, but as long she continue to attend Longhorn football and hoops games (and tweets about them), I won't worry about the firmness of her verbal commitment.
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I remember when she committed in the 7th grade - The Today Show had a segment on her.

http://www.today.com/video/today/56353369

The story ESPNw did on her right after her commitment in October 2014.

http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-comm...-seventh-grade-guard-deja-kelly-commits-texas
 
Deja's freshman season ended this evening. They were down 16 to Judson in the second half but got back in the game before losing 62-60. Deja finished with 24 pts and 12 rebounds.
 
wish Deja's team had continued to win but she gained a lot of experience and showed up big in the big games. Glad she's coming to Texas. :hookem3:
 
Congrats to Deja - named San Antonio area Newcomer of the Year - led her district in scoring and FT % as a freshman:

Newcomer of the year
Deja Kelly

School, position: Johnson, guard

Height, class: 5-8, freshman

Notable: Led District 26-6A in scoring (19.2 points), free-throw percentage (82.9) on 121-of-146 shooting ... Also averaged 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.4 steals … Committed to Texas.
 
utfannforlife said:
Was at a few of these games and saw Jamie Carey watching De'Yona Gaston. She's a very good 6'4 freshman post player. Great hands and finished well through contact, smooth mid range game. Look for her to be really REALLY good over the next few years.
Click to expand...

Looking through the TABC All-State/Region teams. 3 freshmen named to All-Region 6A teams: Deja, De'Yona, and Aja Holmes. Karen and Jamie both went to see Holmes play in early February.
 
DFW_Horn said:
Pretty impressive for a freshman to be named MVP.
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I haven't posted to this forum before but in this case I do have a little inside information to share so decided to join and comment ... Sasha Goforth's father, whom I know, is a UT grad. He says Texas is very high on her list of possibilities. I got to see her play a few times this year including against Duncanville. Her high school team (Fayetteville) beat Duncanville, in which game she guarded Zarielle Green very well, in addition to leading Fayetteville in scoring. She has a scorer's mentality and can also play lock-down defense with a combination of length, speed and athleticism. Fayetteville finished the year #12 ranked in the nation by MaxPreps and Goforth led the team in scoring. She apparently was also second in rebounds, blocks and steals (based on recent newspaper article). UT has a strong chance to get her.

From: https://premierbasketballreport.com/news/sandra-meadows-classic-mansfield-spring-creek-invitational
"2020 Sasha Goforth of Fayetteville (AR) became a true star this weekend. Goforth is already highly regarded in college recruiting circles, but her play in the semifinal win over Duncanville took her to another level. Goforth has a terrific overall game with no huge weaknesses. Goforth can create for herself and others off the handle, can shoot off the bounce or catch and has a terrific combination of size and athleticism. She plays all out and has the “it” factor that has coaches across America salivating."
 
ArHornFan said:
I haven't posted to this forum before but in this case I do have a little inside information to share so decided to join and comment ... Sasha Goforth's father, whom I know, is a UT grad. He says Texas is very high on her list of possibilities. I got to see her play a few times this year including against Duncanville. Her high school team (Fayetteville) beat Duncanville, in which game she guarded Zarielle Green very well, in addition to leading Fayetteville in scoring. She has a scorer's mentality and can also play lock-down defense with a combination of length, speed and athleticism. Fayetteville finished the year #12 ranked in the nation by MaxPreps and Goforth led the team in scoring. She apparently was also second in rebounds, blocks and steals (based on recent newspaper article). UT has a strong chance to get her.

From: https://premierbasketballreport.com/news/sandra-meadows-classic-mansfield-spring-creek-invitational
"2020 Sasha Goforth of Fayetteville (AR) became a true star this weekend. Goforth is already highly regarded in college recruiting circles, but her play in the semifinal win over Duncanville took her to another level. Goforth has a terrific overall game with no huge weaknesses. Goforth can create for herself and others off the handle, can shoot off the bounce or catch and has a terrific combination of size and athleticism. She plays all out and has the “it” factor that has coaches across America salivating."
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Welcome to the forum, and thanks so much for the information. She sounds like a very special player!
 
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