Star basketball siblings from Paterson will head to the same college
PATERSON, New Jersey (WABC) -- A pair of star basketball siblings in New Jersey are taking their skills to college.
They're both going to the same university, and they're also both getting full scholarships.
Taniesha and Avante Gilbert, who each were the top-scoring players on the girls and boys teams in the John F. Kennedy Knights basketball program in Paterson, will continue playing for the same school as they both have signed with St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York.
Taniesha, who will graduate from Rosa L. Parks School of the Fine and Performing Arts, scored more than 1,000 points in her high school career.
Her brother Avante, a senior at International High School, averaged a team-high 14 points per game.
The Knights boys team finished the season winning their 13th title as Passaic County champions, more county titles than any other team.
"To see the Gilberts win is a thrill, to see them go to college makes us proud, and to see them go to the same college to continue their basketball careers is the icing on the cake that we simply didn't expect," said Schools Superintendent Eileen Shafer.
As for whether there is a sibling rivalry, it's more like sibling motivation.
"We just like to push each other," said Avante. "To be better," said Taniesha.
The two have had basketball in their blood since they were kids, watching their dad coach high school basketball. And they both fell in love with the game.
"It started off, I was just doing it because the rest of my family was doing it," said Taniesha. "My father was the coach so I was just around it a lot."
"It just started off as something fun but I really got into it I think, my 6th or 7th grade year," said Avante.
They both say their favorite player is LeBron James and they both want to study criminal justice because they love crime dramas on TV.
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