AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Women’s Basketball senior DeYona Gaston and junior Aaliyah Moore were named to the 20 player watch list for the 2024 Katrina McClain Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced on Thursday. 

Named after the two-time All-American and 1987 National Player of the Year Katrina McClain, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top power forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. 

Gaston earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in the 2023-24 season. Gaston was named the Big 12 Player of the Week following a week where she scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a win over Alabama State. Gaston increased her point total from 7.1 to 12.1 from the 2021-22 season to the 2022-23 season. Gaston scored 24 points in a road win over Kansas. Gaston was recently named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. 

Moore had her 2022-23 season cut short with an ACL injury, but is working hard to get back for the 2023-24 season. Moore scored in double-figures in seven of the nine games she played last season. Moore emerged as a dominant post presence for the Longhorns during their postseason run to the 2022 Big 12 Tournament Championship and return to the NCAA Elite Eight in her freshman season. Moore contributed 12 points and five boards during the Big 12 Tournament Championship game victory over Baylor. Moore tallied a season-best 21 points in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 victory over Utah. 

2024 Katrina McClain Award Candidates*

*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2023-24 season

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Katrina McClain Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to McClain and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, where a winner will be selected. 

The winner of the 2024 Katrina McClain Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.

Previous winners of the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award are Maddy Siegrist, Villanova (2023), NaLyssa Smith, Baylor (2021-22), Ruthy Hebard, Oregon (2018, 2020), and Napheesa Collier, Connecticut (2019).

For more information on the 2024 Katrina McClain Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #McClainAward on Twitter and Instagram.

About Katrina McClain-Pittman:

Katrina McClain-Pittman was a prolific rebounder and terrific scorer in a career that spanned three Olympic Games and three continents. Before she earned her stripes for USA Basketball, McClain-Pittman starred at the University of Georgia where she was a two-time Kodak All-American and the WBCA National Player of the Year her senior season. She left Georgia as the school’s second all-time leading scorer and rebounder, averaging a double-double her final two seasons in Athens. The Lady Bulldogs reached the 1985 NCAA Final Four and national championship game with McClain-Pittman controlling the paint and Teresa Edwards running the offense. The two-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year finished her international career with two Olympic gold medals and one bronze, three FIBA World Championships medals, and five medals at the Goodwill Games, Pan Am Games, and World University Games. In all, McClain-Pittman appeared on eleven USA Basketball rosters becoming one of the most decorated athletes in USA Basketball history. She has been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, the Georgia State Hall of Fame, and the National High School Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

About the WBCA:

Founded in 1981, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981 or call 1-770-279-8027.

About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:

Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 400 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo “Court of Dreams.” Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game’s elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophall or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.