But Gaston has beaten his mission-impossible odds. In August, he’ll report for duty as a scholarship player at Eastern Kentucky University of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The road to D-I started the summer between Gaston’s junior and senior years of high school. He filled that period with camps where he played against the best competition he could find.

That winter, a change of scenery (from North Rowan High to South Rowan), added physical maturity and a new level of confidence combined to make Gaston a sensation. He was suddenly a hero. Broad-shouldered and rugged, yet soft-spoken and modest. Everyone loved Gaston.

The powerful, 6-7, 220-pounder crammed an entire prep career into his 1997-98 senior season at South, averaging 15.2 ppg and scoring 380 points, the 12th-best season in Raider history.

That great senior season was supposed to make his life smooth sailing. It didn’t. A few things didn’t work out and Gaston’s next stop was Odessa Junior College in western Texas.

Odessa’s claim to fame is that it was a pit stop (prior to UNLV) for future NBA star LarryJohnson. Odessa’s claims with regard to being infamous are far more numerous.

Odessa is a place where the Old South collides with the Wild, Wild West. The murder rate is high, football is king and the wind blows like Hurricane Floyd every day of the week. Swirling dust and rusting oil-rigs are everywhere. And forget about seeing a legitimate tree or a blade of green grass for a thousand miles or so.

Gaston shakes his head when asked to describe Odessa.

“It was rough out there,” he says. “The basketball was great. I played in a real good league. But as far as Odessa, there’s nothing there. It’s just a bunch of flat land.”

Gaston put in one year in Odessa, then pulled up stakes and headed for Labette Junior College in Parsons, Ks.

“That place didn’t impress me either,” says Gaston. “But I did like the people better.”

Gaston starred on the court his sophomore year at Labette. He was named team MVP after averaging 12.5 ppg and 8.4 boards.

“I had a lot of offers after that,” says Gaston. “I chose Eastern Kentucky because they had recruited me the longest and the hardest. They showed interest in me all the way back to Odessa.”

And if they came all the way to Odessa, Gaston reasoned, they really had to be interested.

EKU is in Richmond, Ky., just a bit east of Lexington, home of the University of Kentucky, one of the dominant schools in college basketball for better than half a century. Gaston will play at 6,500- seat McBrayer Arena, in a hoops hotbed in a respected conference made up of teams from Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. He’ll be part of a league that has as many famous coaches as players.

Former UNCTar Heels Jeff Lebo and Randy Weil are in charge of the programs at Tennessee Tech and Middle Tennessee, respectively. Former UK great Kyle Macy, who helped the Wildcats beat Duke in the 1978 NCAA finals, coaches Morehead State. Gaston’s team is guided by former UK 3-point bomber Travis Ford.

Gaston hopes to see action for the Colonels at both forward positions. He dominated inside in high school with his powerful physique, but realizes it’s time to add finesse to his muscle if he’s to succeed against players his size and larger.

“My JUCO teams were small,” said Gaston, “so I played mainly the 4 spot. But I’ve been working hard the past two years on my outside shooting and ballhandling, so I should be able to play some 3.”

Gaston has spent this summer preparing himself for the big-time. He runs, lifts weights and performs drills prescribed by Eastern’s coaches. And of course, he plays every chance he gets.

Sometimes it’s at the Salisbury YMCA where he’s gotten reacquainted with old friends like one-time Raider teammate Carlos Dixon, who signed with Virginia Tech after a year at Fork Union Military Academy. And sometimes it’s been against some of the ACC’s leading men.

“I worked the Wake Forest camp the last couple of weeks,” says Gaston. “I played against Robert O’Kelley, Craig Dawson and Antwan Scott up there. Scott’s tough. He’s like 6-9.”

But Gaston is tough too. After all, he survived west Texas. It has to get easier from here on out. Well, doesn’t it?

“I don’t know,” says Gaston. “We’re gonna people like Virginia, Kentucky and UCLA this year. It’s a hard schedule with like 10 high-major teams.”

But maybe that’s when Gaston will know he’s truly made it — when he steps on the floor with the Travis Watsons, Chris Williamses and Jason Kaponos of the world.

“It’s been hard at times,” he says. “But you know, I always knew I’d make it. My mom and family stayed behind me through it all. I thank God for this chance.”

The Gaston story is far from over, but it’s well on its way to a happy ending.

Gaston’s father, a star at old Dunbar High, died when Richard was young, and the kid’s hoop dreams have struggled ever since to find a paved section on life’s bumpy road.

At least until now. Finally, Gaston’s reached the point he always knew he’d be — even back when the only baskets he was making were in his daydreams.