Bascom twins share football experience at University of Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (BVM) – When it comes to football, it鈥檚 a family affair for the Bascoms. A bond shared outside the hash marks and sidelines has played an important role in the life of two brothers, now members of the University of Kentucky football team. The pair of walk-ons and identical twins, though they may not win the Heisman this year, have learned many valuable life lessons from playing football and doing it together.
The sophomore Bascoms, Richard and Alexander, have been inseparable their whole lives. From middle school to high school and all the way to college, the two brothers have stuck together both in their football careers and beyond. Today, they still both play the same position at defensive end. They live together in the same house. They鈥檙e in the same fraternity. And, if you didn鈥檛 know them, you wouldn鈥檛 be able to tell them apart. Thankful for these many shared bonds, they say football has brought them closer together than anything else.
Yet, football is not always the big focus, or the immediate driving factor for the Bascoms. When they entered as freshmen at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Ky. Richard and Alexander actually had a different sport they were passionate about.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even really start playing football until high school. We were always bigger basketball guys,鈥� Richard said. 鈥淲e joined the football team to meet people and found out we were actually pretty good at it and we ended up quitting basketball for football.鈥�
Eventually, the Bascoms would earn their spot on the varsity team, and play there for three years. Though they lost in the 6A state championship in 2017, they said they still have a lot of good memories from their high school playing years.
鈥淢y favorite memory was beating Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) our senior year in front of a crowd of 25,000 people.鈥� Richard said.
鈥淢y favorite memory would have to be beating Male (Louisville, Ky.) our senior year, because they were the No. 1 team in the state at the time,” Alexander said. “We went to听Male and beat them by three or four touchdowns, so that was exciting.鈥�
Clearly, the brothers have had a lot of success, which prompted their decision to play in college. Yet, when it came time to choose a school, the twins were not sure what their future held. Would they continue playing football together? Would one play and one be a regular student? Or, would they both choose to live an average college life and retire from playing football altogether? It was a choice they had to make, and it was not an easy one.听
鈥淚 was really indecisive,鈥� Alexander said. 鈥淓arly in the fall of our senior year we were given the choice to play here at UK, but it wasn鈥檛 until April that we actually decided, together, that we should just go for it. After that we were 100% in.鈥�
The opportunity to play at Kentucky was just that – an opportunity. It was not a given that the brothers would make the team. They knew what it would take to be a part of an SEC football team, and as walk-ons, the transition wasn鈥檛 necessarily easy.
鈥淕oing in as a walk-on, especially at a place like this, is really intimidating,鈥� Richard said. 鈥淭he transition was tough, but I was definitely glad to have someone sharing that experience with me, and pushing me through.鈥�
The Bascoms understand how great a gift it is to have each other, and they appreciate that every day.
鈥淗aving someone by your side who鈥檚 always in the same boat as you was a huge help that kept me playing,鈥� Alexander said.听
Richard said he has always been thankful he has his brother to push him, because 鈥渨alk-ons don鈥檛 always get the most respect, and we had to help each other and work as hard as we could every day.鈥澨�
They practice together in the same position group for six hours a day, so there is no shortage of time to compete with each other.听
Though they had played football together for the past four years, earning a starting spot their senior year, they agree that SEC football is a different story. What the casual fan doesn鈥檛 see is the amount of work walk-ons put in. Often it鈥檚 just as much, if not more, than the team鈥檚 star players. The Bascoms鈥� college careers have been no different.听
Both Richard and Alexander are finance majors at the University of Kentucky. Of course they value being able to be a member of the football team, but they realize that is often not a viable career option. When asked what their plans were following their college careers, the twins, surprisingly, offered two very different career paths.听
鈥淩ight now I鈥檓 leaning towards law school,鈥� Alexander said.
鈥淚 think I want to go into investment banking,鈥� Richard said.
Though it sounds like it, maybe they don鈥檛 actually do everything together. Maybe this family affair of playing football together is the final time they鈥檒l have an opportunity to really be with each other and enjoy each other鈥檚 company. As any college student understands, college is the last time you will be able to experience many things. Yet, Richard and Alexander realize the incredible opportunity they were presented, and how nicely it has panned out for them.听
鈥淭hank God we took it because it would have been a big experience to have passed up,鈥� Richard said.
One thing the Bascoms enjoy the most about playing football at the University of Kentucky is the camaraderie of the team, which starts with each other.听听
鈥淲alk-ons obviously don鈥檛 get the most respect, but once we made the team we were treated the same as everyone else,鈥� Richard said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all one team, everyone plays for each other and we鈥檙e all pretty close,鈥� Alexander added.
The most valuable lesson the Bascoms learned came after the Wildcats鈥� win in the 2019 Belk Bowl over Virginia Tech on New Years鈥� Eve. The lesson was that hard work pays off and that those behind the scenes are just as deserving as those who are on the main stage.
As for the outlook for the rest of the 2020 season, the Bascoms say the Wildcats, who are 1-2 thus far, are beginning to turn things around.听
鈥淲e have the momentum we needed now, everyone鈥檚 confident again, and I think we鈥檙e going to look good for the rest of the season,鈥� Richard said.
What Richard and Alexander have learned from playing football has translated over into their daily life. Lessons like hard work, not giving up when the going gets tough, and earning your spot, have helped them navigate their busy college days.听
When asked if they had a piece of advice to give each other, whether in football or in life in general, Richard told Alexander to 鈥渒eep persevering when it鈥檚 hard,鈥� while Alexander told Richard he would 鈥渉ave to try to outwork him every day.鈥�
Football has obviously been a big part of the Boscoms鈥� lives. However, they realize that there are bigger things than football and that what happens off the field is what defines someone. For this set of twins, family is a bond which can never be broken and every day is a new chance to prove oneself and to push each other to work harder.
