Bria and Briana Day are one in the same. They look the same. They both stand 6 feet, 4 inches. They both have the same slight southern accent.

Though the identical twins are often interchangeable, the two tallest Syracuse basketball players have no trouble standing out in a crowd.

When they walk into the Carmelo K. Anthony Center for practice together, they smile as they tower above their teammates.

Inseparable growing up, not going to college together, not practicing together and not taking the court together were never an option.

“Yeah,” Briana said defiantly. “There was never any question.”

This season, Bria and Briana will fulfill the inevitable when they take the court in Syracuse orange together for the first time.

The journey to opening night started in middle school when Bria’s English teacher and the school’s basketball coach suggested the two join the team. Standing at 6 feet, 2 inches at the time, there wasn’t much debate.

There was only one problem: They were bad.

They were tall but unskilled, and didn’t know the rules.

When the girls played on their seventh grade team, their mother Katherine approached an AAU coach, Ty Cox, who was in attendance watching his own daughter play the game. She asked if he could teach her daughters to play.

“They weren’t very good at all,” Cox said. “They were tall and everyone expected them to be good, and it was tough for them. They were truly athletic. They could run. They could jump. But they didn’t know the game, and they really were not good.”

So he took them under his wing. First he taught them dribbling. Next were layups. Then passing. They were starting to get better, and the future looked bright.

But heading into eighth grade, they were faced with a choice. They had to either pursue basketball full time, or continue participating in track and field. Cox said their track and field coach said the girls had to choose one or the other in the hopes that they’d drop basketball.

“But they chose basketball.” Cox said. “That’s when they really started playing basketball seriously.”

In high school, they only got better. With more talent and a chance to get two athletes in a package deal, college coaches were relentless in their pursuit of the Day sisters.

“It was stressful,” Bria said. “They’d call very, very early, like 8 o’clock, and I’d just want to sleep.”

But no matter how much they wanted their sleep or privacy, they’d always entertain the calls. They listened to everyone, even though they had their minds on one school.

When it came time to make the decision, the choice was easy.

North Carolina. Having grown up in Raleigh, N.C., they were fans of the Tar Heel program. The choice made sense.

Not long after they made their decision, Briana decided she wanted to de-commit. But Bria and their mother Katherine wanted them to stick with their decision to play at UNC. So Briana recommitted.

But eventually, their interest in UNC waned and they opened themselves back up to recruitment.

“Bria started to see different things, Briana started focusing on different things,” Cox said. “And they just felt that maybe they could look at different options.”

So the sisters went into Cox’s office and laid out all of their college prospects.

“We kind of created a spreadsheet to look at all of the schools that were interested,” he said. “We listed the pros the cons, the roster, players at their positions, tradition, winning, where they were going to study and the coaches’ contract situation.”

They calculated just about everything. And the answer was Syracuse. In the end, it was the weather on their visit that sealed the deal.

“When we first came here we thought it was going to be cold,” Bria said. “But it was actually really hot the day we came. It was 94 degrees, I remember it perfectly.”

But now, as the winter rears its frigid head, basketball season begins and another chapter is written in the Day sisters’ story.

With the graduation of all-time leading scorer Kayla Alexander, Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said he will be calling Bria and Briana’s numbers early and often this season.

“When you can get two post players, it’s a luxury,” Hillsman said. “They’re in a role where they can step in and help us right away.”

And just like everything they’ve always done, it will be together. From not being able to dribble a basketball, to playing in one of the top Division I conferences, Bria and Briana have always been a package deal.

“Everything they say is in unison,” Hillsman said. “But it’s good they’re very close, they have a good bond.

“They’ll have a great career here.”

Published on November 7, 2013 at 2:36 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3