Twins have prominently competed in sports.
Bob and Mike Bryan are the most successful doubles team in tennis history. Dick and Tom Van Arsdale both played 12 years in the NBA, Dick with more than 15,000 points, Tom with more than 14,000. Rhode and Tiki Barber were NFL all pros, Rhonde as a defensive back, Tiki as a running back.
But how about twins who play two sports competitively at the same time? That's true for Kosciusko juniors Jeremy and Josh Gibson.
They are the school's top two golfers and play doubles together in tennis.
What is it like juggling two sports during the same season? “It's very difficult. Practices are at the same time,” Jeremy said. “But we're determined. Any time we go to a golf tournament, when we come back, we play tennis.”
There won’t be a problem next season when MHSAA moves golf to the fall. Then it will be golf in the fall, soccer, the other sport they play, in the winter and tennis in the spring.
Golf is the first love for both, and the sport they have played the longest, Jeremy since the seventh grade, Josh since the eighth grade. Their grandfather introduced them to the sport.
Josh, the older of the two by one minute, said it's because Jeremy started a year earlier that he is No. 1 for the team and Josh No 2.
The two most recent 18-hole matches show how close they are, separated by one stroke after 36 holes. In a match at the Pearl Municipal Course, Jeremy shot 80 and Josh 83. One day later at Dancing Rabbit in Philadelphia, Josh had 78 and Jeremy another 80.
As is true for most twins, there is a friendly rivalry. “Everything we do, we want to see who can do it better,” Josh said. “Who can win at golf. Who can win at tennis. That helps us get better every day.”
“They're both highly competitive golfers in their matches and also with each other,” said Kosciusko coach Wylie Rhodes. “That is probably what sets them apart. Being able to compete against each other every day.”
The twins began the tennis season playing doubles, but not as a team. In the first four matches, Josh played No 2 boys doubles with Thomas Pettit and Jeremy mixed doubles with Akeelah Hunt. But coach Sarah Calhoun made some lineup changes that put Josh and Jeremy together at No. 2 boys doubles.
“At first it was challenging because we are always competitive against each other,” Jeremy said. But he added “We have good chemistry together.”
Calhoun said Josh and Jeremy asked to be a team, so she had them play against the No. 1 team of Thomas Sims and Alexis Hernandez in practice. “They nearly beat the boys 1 team, so I let them play the next game together and they have done well since then. Both Josh and Jeremy have incredible first serves. Josh has an incredible sense for placing the ball away from the opposing players, and Jeremy has great reaction time and recovers returns that would be impossible for some players. I’m proud of all their hard work and extra practice hours they’ve put in to improving their abilities on the court.”
There is a good reason why they took up tennis. “Our girlfriends play tennis. They got us into it,” Josh said. “We enjoy it so much playing together. It helps us grow so much every day.”
They were victorious as a team against Leake Central, Winona and Northeast Lauderdale.
Jeremy and Josh have never engaged in the twin-inspired prank of changing places. “We joke about it. It’s something we always thought about doing,” Josh said. “We do a lot of things. We prank people as to who we are.”
The initial J is not limited to Jeremy and Josh. They have an older brother Jacob and a younger brother James.
