Sophomore Paisley Johnson and freshman Shaylee Gonzales produce numbers both on the basketball court and on their YouTube channels.
The women’s basketball players created their YouTube channels in high school, Johnson in 2017 and Gonzales 2015. They both have similar experiences with how they got their start.
“The reason why I wanted to start my YouTube channel was because I want to be able to document some really good times in my life and be able to watch them later in my life,” Johnson said.
It all started with wanting to capture fun times with their families and teammates. Both Johnson and Gonzales gained several subscribers from the popularity of a single video.
Johnson’s following spiked after she posted a video titled “A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A D1 COLLEGE ATHLETE | BYU,” which currently has over 399,000 views. Gonzales’ channel sparked from her video called “MOVING INTO MY 1ST DORM ROOM | BYU,” which has over 72,000 views.
“When I started my YouTube channel, I didn’t think that it would blow up that fast,” Gonzales said. “It was one of my dreams to have my YouTube get big like this and I can’t wait to see what happens to it in the future.”
Johnson has more than 27,000 subscribers and Gonzales has more than 12,000.
The women’s basketball players post videos once every two weeks on average, depending on their schedules. During the season, it’s harder for them to make weekly videos. They try their best to prioritize and make time for school, basketball and their YouTube channels.
Most of their videos are about their experiences as athletes at BYU. Johnson and Gonzales get their teammates involved in many of their videos as well.
“I always have so much fun being part of it and we always end up with funny videos to laugh about later,” said BYU basketball player Maria Albiero.
Johnson is studying sociology and plans on becoming a private investigator. She says she thinks she could continue her YouTube channel on the side. She has had multiple businesses reach out to her to promote and review their products, but since she is an NCAA athlete, she cannot accept those offers. After she is done playing at the collegiate level, she said she could make extra money through YouTube.
Gonzales is a freshman and her major is undecided. She wants to play professional basketball overseas after college and continue to run her YouTube channel.
The underclassmen are the two highest scorers on the team. Johnson averages 14.1 points per game and Gonzales averages 17.3 points per game.
