Shaylee Gonzales' versatility has paid off big time this year for Texas women's basketball

When his family moved into its new home that sat on an acre of land in Arizona five or six years ago, Josh Gonzales decided there was enough space in the backyard to fulfill a longtime dream. So he built an indoor basketball gym.

Gonzales had dreamed of owning a home with an indoor court since he was in high school. And like in any gym, banners were hung to honor the on-court accomplishments for each member of his family of seven.

So who's the best basketball player in the family? Could be Josh, who played professionally in Mexico. Or Candice, the matriarch who ranks among the all-time scoring average leaders in Grand Canyon University history. Or Cohen J, a 5-foot-9 guard at Pima Community College who recently had a viral moment when he dunked over a 6-foot-5 opponent. Maybe one day it will be Kahlia or Skylie, who are on the varsity team that Candice coaches at Mesquite High in Gilbert, Ariz.

"The best player is me," Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales said with a smile this week. "I would say definitely me. I'm very confident in that."

Gonzales, a Longhorns senior and the Gonzales' oldest child, has no reason to be modest. She has scored 2,223 points over her five seasons played at BYU and Texas. When she was at BYU, she was a two-time West Coast Conference player of the year. Last year she led Texas in scoring and earned all-Big 12 honors.

"She plays with a lot of poise," Longhorns teammate Taylor Jones said. "I think that you don't ever really see her get riled up. She's pretty consistent."

Gonzales' role has changed this season

This season, Gonzales is averaging a career-low 10.5 points per game. Those numbers aren't really a reflection of the capabilities of a player who would respectively rank third and fourth in the Texas and BYU record books if all of her career points had been scored at one school. Her 45.2% shooting is in line with the career average she entered the season with, and her 43.2% success rate from behind the 3-point line is more than 11 percentage points better.

Gonzales, though, has played a different role for the Longhorns this winter.

At the beginning of the season, the Longhorns didn't need her to score. They had enough depth to take care of the points, so she just averaged 22.8 minutes and 8.5 shots per game in nonconference play. And after Rori Harmon's season-ending knee injury cost the team its best defender, Texas has needed both Gonzales and Shay Holle to focus on guarding the opposing team's best perimeter players.

Texas coach Vic Schaefer conceded earlier this month that the Longhorns need more offensive production from Gonzales with Harmon out. And don't get it twisted. Gonzales believes that if the Longhorns needed a 30-point game from her, they'd get it.

"We need to use our size and that's obviously what we've done in the past few games," said Gonzales, who scored 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting in Saturday's 76-66 win at Oklahoma State. "But when (Schaefer) runs plays for me, I get excited."

'I just want to win. The deeper that we go, the better.'

This isn't the first time Gonzales has seen her role change at Texas. Last season, she was played out-of-position at point guard while Harmon nursed a toe injury.

Schaefer said Texas recruited Gonzales in part for her offensive abilities and didn't ask her to be anything that she wasn't. But when she chose to transfer to Texas over Oregon State and North Carolina State, Gonzales said she knew that she wouldn't need to be a high-volume scorer in Austin. And since she wants to play professionally, she figured it wouldn't hurt to showcase and improve other aspects of her game.

"I just want to win. The deeper that we go, the better," Gonzales said. "I feel like it's more like a mental thing where I have to realize what the team needs. I don't have to go in being the star player averaging 20 points a night. I can play defense, I can be very efficient shooting-wise, make assists, rebound."

If Gonzales just wanted to score, she could have simply stayed at BYU. She missed BYU's 2019-20 season with a knee injury, but she led the Cougars in scoring in each of her other three years. But Josh Gonzales said his daughter "wanted a coach that was going to coach her hard, and she wanted an experience that was going to give her credibility for the next level."

On-court basketball sense, off-court style sense

For as many accomplishments as Gonzales has earned on the court, she's just as successful off it as an entrepreneur and influencer. She has developed a brand that has led to an estimated 60 NIL deals during her two years at Texas. She has a merchandise store that sells clothing with her personalized logo (Harmon was seen wearing one of Gonzales' sweatshirts in a video released by Texas this week). She has more than 200,000 TikTok followers and another 85,000 followers on Instagram, and her mostly-dormant YouTube channel still boasts 126,000 subscribers.

One of the interests that she shares with her followers is her love of fashion. "Whether it's going shopping or online shopping, just putting clothes together, I like styling, jewelry, hair, all that stuff. I feel like it just makes me happy," Gonzales explained.

You remember how quick Gonzales was to crown herself when asked about who's the best player in her family? Ask her a similar question about who has the best fashion sense in the Texas locker room. She's willing to share that crown.

"I feel like there are a lot of girls that do," Gonzales said. "Whether it's clothes or shoes, everyone has a good sense of clothing."

What about Schaefer and his suits?

"For his age, I feel like it's good (with) his ties and the shoes," Gonzales said. "I'll give him an 8 out of 10. I feel like he could do better, but I'll give him an eight. It's not like I know about suits or anything, but he mixes it up, it's good."

With Oklahoma in town, Schaefer will again be dressed in a suit Wednesday night. His fashionable players will be wearing their basketball uniforms.

Ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press poll, Texas is 5-2 in Big 12 play. Oklahoma has won five of its six conference games. The Longhorns and Sooners split the Big 12 championship last year, but both teams are chasing No. 4 Kansas State (19-1, 8-0).

This season, Texas is No. 6 nationally in scoring offense (86.5 ppg) and No. 38 in scoring defense (56.6 ppg). With an 18-2 record, Texas is off to its second-best 20-game start in the last 20 years.

"This team is super good," said Gonzales, who has started 56 times as a Longhorn. "We're going to go super far and I'm just super excited to see how the tournaments go."

Wednesday's game

Oklahoma (11-6, 5-1) at No. 10 Texas (18-2, 5-2), 6 p.m., ESPNU, 103.1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Shaylee Gonzales leading Texas Longhorns in final basketball season