Journey Houston’s path to becoming a Hawkeye

Basketball is in Iowa freshman Journey Houston’s DNA.

“Literally, her first toy was a little stuffed basketball so right away,” said Jacinda Houston, Journey Houston’s mother.

Journey’s basketball skills took off at an early age.

“The way she was playing against those girls her age, she was a couple steps ahead of them,” said Jayden Houston, Journey Houston’s brother. “So I was like, ‘She’s got some real potential’ and then it just gradually kept moving on.”

“I’ve been waiting so long. I committed kind of early compared to some people, so being (at Iowa) is surreal,” Journey Houston said. “Everybody makes it so positive and just makes playing the game even easier.

Houston’s path to playing inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, however, did not come without adversity.

“She has that will and determination to get through any obstacles that are put in front of her,” said James Houston, Journey Houston’s father. “She’s a hardworking kid. I didn’t expect anything else.”

Journey Houston, a 1,000-point scorer at Davenport North, underwent a major knee injury her junior year.

“It was definitely a struggle, but I just pushed through all my rehab and tried to stay positive to be at where I am today,” Journey Houston said.

“That’s more difficult, I think, than going out and having cameras in your face and being expected to do certain things on the court. She had to go from playing basketball everyday to not being able to play for over nine months,” Jacinda Houston said.

On top of that, Lisa Bluder, the Iowa head coach that Houston originally committed to, retired. Houston, though, said she had complete trust in Jan Jensen.

“Throughout my recruiting process, Coach (Jansen) did a lot of it so I always felt like I had a good connection with her as well so I decided to stay,” Journey Houston said.

“(Journey) really is invested in the way that they run their program and the culture that they have,” Jacinda Houston said. “I know everyone says that, but it really is a family. She wanted to make sure that she stayed there because she knew everything would be just as it was supposed to be in the beginning.”

The Houston family is planning their trips to Iowa home games.

“When she scores that first bucket, I don’t know that I’m going to be able to contain myself,” Jacinda Houston said. “I’m gonna be very, very excited.”

“I’ve seen it first hand. I’ve seen girls come up to her in public saying, ‘oh my gosh! Journey Houston!’ I’m like, yeah that’s crazy but I’m super proud to be her brother,” Jayden Houston said.

“The fans at Iowa are great, so I’m just most excited to, ya know, be in that environment and play for them,” Journey Houston said.