Burnet grad MaeSyn Gay performs at high level for Hardin-Simmons
No matter the uniform, MaeSyn Gay’s talent and abilities always shine brightly.
Months after signing to play for Hardin-Simmons University’s women’s basketball team, the 2024 Burnet High School graduate was named to the All-Freshman Team of the American Southwest Conference.
She played in 27 games where she averaged 14.3 minutes, 4 points and 6 rebounds per contest. She also had 35 steals and 29 blocks.
“I think everyone has always known I’m a competitor,” she said. “Not many can say they’re a college athlete. You can do a lot if you keep working at it.”
Working at it is all Gay has known. Most knew of her athletic prowess as a child. So few were surprised when she signed to play college basketball about 14 months after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. That injury happened in the second District 24-4A game at Lampasas in January 2023.
But she rehabbed and was released in time to play volleyball her senior year in August of the same calendar year. While she was rehabbing, she also slid over to the coach’s seat for Next Level Sports-Hill Country at the invitation of head coach, founder and director Sonny Wilson. During the Marble Falls May Volleyball League, she coached the Burnet High School freshman squad. Her reason? She wanted to instill in the young athletes the same love of sports she has and be that person who helps them be all they can be.
All of those moments, those contests and those seasons helped propel Gay to where she is now and why, when her college team faced unexpected adversity, she stepped up. Injuries limited some of the Cowgirls, so coaches asked Gay if she’d consider playing center until some of her teammates could return.
“At the beginning of the season, I was practicing as a (power forward),” she said. “I just wanted to play. Our post came back and she’s a senior, so I came in for her. Playing (that position) brought me back to when I first started playing basketball. I am a little bit stronger and it was definitely hard. I was so nervous for my first game. As the season progressed, I realized my stride and what I could use.”
Gay realized that she possessed qualities that made matchups difficult for the opposing center and used those traits to her advantage.
“I was quicker than them, I could out jump them,” she said. “I was able to get rebounds. They’d have to guard me out in the arc. It was helpful for my team. It made me more versatile.”
That helped the Cowgirls reach the conference tournament final where they lost to East Texas Baptist 78-67 to end their season.
She took 15 hours in the fall and 12 hours in the spring. She was up and out the door by 8:30 a.m. for breakfast, classes and weight lifting sessions, which usually all finished in time for lunch. Afternoons were spent in practices or studying. Gay also joined a sorority or social club as they’re called at HSU. By 10 p.m., she was in bed.
Her future career will be in sports.
“I either want to work for ESPN or be a (team’s) director of operations and plan all their away games,” Gay said.
Since returning to Burnet for the summer, she has been coaching with Next Level. Her first year of college went well, and she looks forward to returning to Abilene.
“I tell people I love (NCAA) Division III, I love school,” she said. “It’s the perfect fit for me. I found great friends. My coaches were a blessing. I learned so much as a player. I’m blessed more than I could imagine. I feel like a happier version of myself. It’s a blessing to play with people like me who brought the same amount of joy. I can play the sport I love and have fun.”
CAPTION: Burnet graduate MaeSyn Gay (second from left) was one of six freshmen on the Hardin-Simmons University women’s basketball team. The others are Reese Cruse (left), Hope Hermesmeyer, Dylan Koele and Jacqueline Berry. Courtesy photo
