Outstanding Women of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock: Ronjanae and Raeyana DeGray
In honor of Women鈥檚 History Month, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is featuring stories about the 鈥淥utstanding Women of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥� faculty, staff, students, and alumni who are serving as leaders and making a difference for the university and their communities. 聽Twin sisters and have made a name for themselves as star players on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock women鈥檚 basketball team.聽After finishing their fourth and final season at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, the student-athletes are set to graduate in May and ready to take the next step in life.Not only is Ronjanae the Sun Belt Conference鈥檚 Co-Player of the Year, the senior forward is also a future educator who interns as a special-education teacher at Bale Elementary School.鈥淪pecial education has been a passion of mine since high school. I enjoy helping students that have difficulties that most students have not had,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 reminded every day that life is precious.鈥�Some of Ronjanae鈥檚 students saw her in action in March when they took a school field trip to the Jack Stephens Center to watch the Trojans play.鈥淭he students came to the locker room and took pictures and got to meet the other players,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he next day in school, they were all excited and talking about the game.鈥�
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock women’s basketball player Ronjanae DeGray (right) battles against South Alabama. Photo by Benjamin Krain.
Raeyana will graduate with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mass communication and minor in marketing. After graduation, she plans to stay in the sports world by working as a sports analyst.鈥淚鈥檝e always been into sports, and I love to talk about sports and watch sports,鈥� she said. 鈥淏eing a student-athlete, I thought it would be fun to stay involved in sports in a different way.鈥�The DeGrays are finishing their basketball careers on an incredible season. The Trojans ended the season as Sun Belt Conference champions, finishing atop the conference and making an NCAA Tournament appearance for the second straight season. The sisters are the only two of the Trojans’ four seniors who played during all four seasons at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.鈥淒uring my freshman year, I saw the boys go to the NCAA tournament and saw how fun it was for them,鈥� Raeyana said. 鈥淏eing able to experience how they felt when they went to the NCAA tournament as a junior and senior was the most memorable experience for me at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.鈥�The DeGrays are the daughters of Ronald DeGray and Donelle Harris and have a younger brother, Ronald, and a younger sister,聽Ramiyah. Since their mother worked in corrections, the family often traveled for her work, and the sisters lived in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, and Tennessee while growing up. Both sisters identify their mother and grandmothers as the women they look up to the most.鈥淢y mom and my grandmothers have shown me that no matter what your circumstances are, it鈥檚 always your job as a woman to get the job done without making any excuses,鈥� Raeyana said.鈥淎 lot of the women in my family are very strong, especially my mother and grandmothers,鈥� Ronjanae added. 鈥淭hey are in the church constantly. When the odds are stacked against you, they always lean on God, and I do that because of the example they have given me all my life.鈥�The DeGrays have been playing basketball with their family since they were kids and said a love of basketball runs in their blood.鈥淲e started playing basketball competitively when we were in the fourth grade,鈥� Ronjanae said. 鈥淏asketball is in my family. Our parents played basketball at the community college where they met, and our mother played at the University of Texas at San Antonio.鈥�
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock forward Raeyana DeGray is surrounded by Texas State defenders during the Trojan鈥檚 game at the Jack Stephens Center. Photo by Benjamin Krain.
While some people find the idea of playing basketball at the college level with your twin sister interesting, the sisters say it鈥檚 not as exciting as people might think.鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing together pretty much all our lives,鈥� Raeyana said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to have someone to share your experiences with, but it鈥檚 like having another teammate you go home to.鈥�As student-athletes, the DeGrays and their teammates are active volunteers who give back to the community that supports Little Rock鈥檚 Team.鈥淲e do a lot of volunteering with children,鈥� Raeyana said. 鈥淲e play basketball with children with special needs. We鈥檝e visited the Arkansas School for the Deaf. Giving back to our community lets people know that we appreciate their support and that we are not just people with jerseys running up and down the court. We appreciate the community!鈥�
