LEXINGTON, Ky. (BVM) – When it comes to football, it’s 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’re in the same fraternity. And, if you didn’t know them, you wouldn’t 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.

“We didn’t even really start playing football until high school. We were always bigger basketball guys,” Richard said. “We 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.”

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.

“My favorite memory was beating Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) our senior year in front of a crowd of 25,000 people.” Richard said.

“My 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 Male and beat them by three or four touchdowns, so that was exciting.”

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. 

“I was really indecisive,” Alexander said. “Early in the fall of our senior year we were given the choice to play here at UK, but it wasn’t until April that we actually decided, together, that we should just go for it. After that we were 100% in.”

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’t necessarily easy.

“Going in as a walk-on, especially at a place like this, is really intimidating,” Richard said. “The transition was tough, but I was definitely glad to have someone sharing that experience with me, and pushing me through.”

The Bascoms understand how great a gift it is to have each other, and they appreciate that every day.

“Having someone by your side who’s always in the same boat as you was a huge help that kept me playing,” Alexander said. 

Richard said he has always been thankful he has his brother to push him, because “walk-ons don’t always get the most respect, and we had to help each other and work as hard as we could every day.” 

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. 

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’t see is the amount of work walk-ons put in. Often it’s just as much, if not more, than the team’s star players. The Bascoms’ college careers have been no different. 

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. 

“Right now I’m leaning towards law school,” Alexander said.

“I think I want to go into investment banking,” Richard said.

Though it sounds like it, maybe they don’t actually do everything together. Maybe this family affair of playing football together is the final time they’ll have an opportunity to really be with each other and enjoy each other’s 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. 

“Thank God we took it because it would have been a big experience to have passed up,” 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.  

“Walk-ons obviously don’t get the most respect, but once we made the team we were treated the same as everyone else,” Richard said.

“We’re all one team, everyone plays for each other and we’re all pretty close,” Alexander added.

The most valuable lesson the Bascoms learned came after the Wildcats’ win in the 2019 Belk Bowl over Virginia Tech on New Years’ 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. 

“We have the momentum we needed now, everyone’s confident again, and I think we’re going to look good for the rest of the season,” 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. 

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 “keep persevering when it’s hard,” while Alexander told Richard he would “have to try to outwork him every day.”

Football has obviously been a big part of the Boscoms’ 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.

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