Texas women’s basketball, softball welcome new recruit, transfers

By Riley Zayas

AUSTIN, Texas — Over the past month, the coronavirus has kept a lot of things shut down, but the NCAA transfer portal is not one of them, so athletes continue to look for new places to compete.

Some of the athletes who will seek a new place to play will be those whose teams compete in the spring were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA because of the pandemic that shut down sports across the country; the seniors on those teams earned a chance to extend their college careers. Couple them with the underclassmen simply looking for a change in scenery, and rosters will look a bit different come next fall. Texas women’s basketball and softball [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]are two of those teams that will benefit from the movement of talent. Here’s a look at some of the athletes who committed to Texas within the past week.

Women’s basketball
Deyona Gaston
Forward
Pearland, Texas
Gaston is a 6-foot-2 forward out of the Houston area hoping to make an immediate impact on the Forty Acres after averaging nearly 18 points per game in high school. Ranked No. 90 in ESPN’s Top 100, Gaston originally committed to play for new Texas women’s basketball head coach Vic Schaefer and Southeastern Conference heavyweight Mississippi State. But  when Schaefer left Starkville for Austin, Gaston flipped her commitment to Texas. An all-state selection in both 2018 and 2020, she led Pearland to the 6A regional semifinals in 2020 as the Oilers posted a 24-11 record. Texas won the recruiting battle over other powerhouse programs such as Connecticut, South Carolina and Baylor to ink this high-scoring forward.

With versatility in the front court, Gaston is a talented rebounder who could combine with center Charli Collier to make the Horns one of the Big 12’s toughest teams in the post. In her Twitter message announcing her decision to flip to Texas, Gaston thanked Mississippi State, but felt following the Bulldogs’ coaching staff to Austin was the best decision.

In addition to Schafer, it has been confirmed that three of his assistants at Mississippi State will be joining the Texas staff next season.  

“I know y’all [are] probably wondering and hearing what is going on about the Mississippi [State] coaches,” Gaston said. “Yes, they moved to University of Texas, and I had to make a decision wether [sic] stay or go with them, I decided to decommit from Mississippi State and take my academics and college basketball to play and learn at the University of Texas.” 

Lauren Ebo
Forward
Washington, D.C. (Penn State)

For the second time this year, a Lady Lion will transform into a Longhorn.

Ebo is a talented 6-4 forward who has more than proven herself against the best of the Big 10, leading the Lady Lions with 21 blocked shots in 2019-20 and finishing third on the team in rebounds with 4.8 per game this season. Despite playing for a team that had a losing record in both of her seasons, she scored in double figures in five games this past season, including 16 against Clemson.

If the NCAA does allow for the one-time transfer rule, Ebo, who will be a junior in the fall, would be eligible to play immediately. If not, she will sit out for a season per NCAA transfer rules, as her former Lady Lion teammate Karisma Ortiz did in 2019-20.

At Texas, Ebo will join a talented frontcourt that includes Collier and Gaston. Assistant coach Johnnie Wilson, who followed Schaefer from from Mississippi State, is well-known for developing great post players, adding to the optimism that Ebo could fill the void left behind by Joyner Holmes, the former Texas forward who was drafted in the second round by the Seattle Storm.

Kyra Lambert
Point Guard
Cibolo (Duke), Texas

A point guard can make or break a close games, or sometimes a season, so after point guard Sug Sutton graduated and got drafted by the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, UT needed a replacement. Duke’s Lambert announced her decision to finish her six-year collegiate career on the Forty Acres. After battling back from an ACL tear that forced her to miss the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Lambert forced her way back into the starting lineup this past season with the Blue Devils, hitting at least one three in each of the final 12 games of the year. Her return to her hometown state could not have come at a better time, as Harvard’s Katie Benzen, the Ivy League’s all-time leader in threes who was committed to transferring to Texas, switched her commitment and will player her final season at Maryland.

Dynamic with the ball, and a leader on the court, Lambert was a three-time captain for Duke. Plus, her deep-range sharpshooting will come in handy considering Texas lost both Sutton and LaShann Higgs, two of its top three point shooters. In her final season at Duke, Lambert played in all 30 games, starting 21. She averaged 5.8 points per game and hit 40.1 percent of her field goals (65 of 162), but her 33.8 accuracy from behind the three-point line was third-best on the Duke team. She tied for third on the team by handing out 50 assists, and swiped 37 steals, fourth-best among the Blue Devils.

Softball
Molly Jacobson
Pitcher
Ole Miss

Softball head coach Mike White is a former pitcher, so it had to be the icing on the cake when he realized he would be bringing his entire 2020 pitching staff, and adding an All-SEC arm in Molly Jacobson, for the 2021 season. Jacobson, like several on the Texas roster, will use her fifth year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. This will be the third college in five years for Jacobson, who previously spent two seasons at Des Moines Area Community College before two years with Ole Miss.

A talented lefty, she has great endurance, and the ability to pitch for many innings each time she steps on the mound. In her last full season in 2019, Jacobson fired 11 complete games while posting a 14-8 record. During the abbreviated 2020 campaign, she went 6-8, with one of those losses coming against Texas in February. Texas has played Ole Miss three times in the past two years, each time facing Jacobson, who was 0-3 against the Horns.
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