AUSTIN, Texas — Five Texas Longhorns women's basketball players have received Big 12 preseason honors, including one who was awarded Preseason Player of the Year award, after the league announced the All-Big 12 Team and individual awards Wednesday.
Longhorns guard Rori Harmon was named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and was unanimously selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while highly touted freshman Madison Booker was given Preseason Freshman of the Year honors. Senior forward DeYona Gaston was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while grad student guard Shaylee Gonzales and junior forward Aaliyah Moore were given honorable mentions.
Harmon was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Big 12 First Team honoree and All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection after a standout 2023 season that saw her average 7.4 assists per game, a Longhorns single-season record and the fourth highest in the nation. Her 228 assists were the third most by a Longhorns player in a single season.
Booker was the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022-23 and was the No. 12 ranked player in the 2023 class. She has won three gold medals as a member of the USA Basketball team, doing so most recently at the U19 World Cup in Spain.
Gaston was named the Big 12 Player of the Week once in 2023, following a week where she scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a win over Alabama State on Dec. 11. Gaston increased her per game point total from 7.1 to 12.1 between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
Gonzales was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and a USBWA National Player of the Week. Gonzales passed 2,000 career points in the collegiate career in the 2022-23 season and was an All-American and Naismith Midseason Team selection during the 2021-22 season. She also led the Longhorns in scoring in the 2022-23 season.
Moore suffered an ACL tear just nine games into the 2022-23 campaign. Prior to her injury, she was averaging 11.2 points per game and almost five rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in seven of her nine games including a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Marquette on Nov. 19.