Women's Basketball | February 15, 2022

Having a twin sister is truly special. Someone to lean on when you're having a rough time. Someone to share a laugh with, or maybe even the ability to read each other's mind? 
 
Delaney Trushel and Emily Trushel were able to grow up with one another as close as possible on and off the court. Always having each other to share laughs, looks, and always having a drill partner.  
 
The Trushel twins were tall growing up, so their father recommended to them that they should play basketball. They started their soon to be preferred sport between fifth and sixth grade. 
 
Growing up as athletes, Emily and Delaney found themselves becoming very completive with one another. People would ask, "who's the better one?" pitting the two against each other. This is what sparked their completive drive and their desire to be great at everything they did.
 
The Trushel twins are always competing with one another in workouts and during games. Emily brags on Delaney for being named the number one shooter in Tennessee when they were in high school. 
 
This pushed Emily to be an even better athlete. They both acknowledge the fact that this competitiveness has helped them grow as athletes in the long run. 
 
They always stay supportive of one another while still striving to be their best person individually. "We push each other to be better" the Trushel twins agree.  
 
Emily also ran track in high school, participating in the high jump which she was later recruited for. However, the girls both decided basketball was the sport they wanted to stick with.
 
The Trushel twins both agree that being twins on the court gives them some pretty cool advantages. One being that they always seem to know what the other is thinking and going to do next. This makes passing the ball between them easier than it might be for others.
 
Another advantage to being twin athletes is the other teams never know which one to guard. It's easy to catch a lot of players guarding only one twin, leaving the other wide open for passes and shooting. 
 
The Trushel Twins also enjoy the fact that they've always got a practice buddy. They rarely need to setup a time with a teammate because they've always got each other. This makes shooting drills fun and easy as they've always got a rebounder.
 
The Trushel twins always knew they wanted to play college ball together. Emily was recruited by Georgia Southern, but because Delaney wasn't offered a place on the team Emily turned them down. The Trushel Twins weren't ready to give up the advantages they had discovered growing up on the court. 
 
They were both also offered places on the Belmont Abbey College basketball team in Belmont, North Carolina. After touring USC Aiken and seeing the gym, Emily and Delaney both made the decision to play as a Pacer. "If you've ever seen the gym, it's really nice" the two laughed as they said it at the same time. 
 
The Trushel twins also felt like they could make the biggest impact the quickest at USC Aiken as well. They didn't want to ride the bench or just go through the motions, and they felt that the USC Aiken coaching staff would utilize their many talents the best. 
 
Only being freshman on the court, they felt as though they've made a decent sized impact. The two both made it clear that they've still got plenty of room to grow and improve in their game, but they've been able to do it together. 
 
The Trushel twins aspire to go to physical therapy school after obtaining a Bachelors in Science at the University of South Carolina Aiken. Basketball has not only been an outlet to help with learning what that side of the game requires, but it has also helped pay their way to make it to their dream career. 
 
Delaney talked about how much basketball will help her to become an athletic trainer when she is older. She is able to see what the USC Aiken athletic training staff is capable of first hand through her sport. 
 
The route they've chosen to take in basketball and in their majors will give them an opportunity to stay together as long as possible. They both agree that it would be "really weird" to have had each other there for support for twenty years and then to one day just not. 
 
Delaney mentions that it might be impactful for individual growth, but overall it would be very different and possibly very difficult to get used to. They are able to be separate and still be their own person, but they would miss each other a great deal. 
 
The future for these completive women remains very bright knowing they'll always have each other no matter how far they end up from one another. They stay supportive and completive on the court, though, pushing each other to their full potential every time.