Une of the best plays seen in the early days of NCAA ‘March Madness’ has a double Spanish accent. It was signed by the Díaz Graham twins, born in the Canary Islands 19 years ago and now at the University of Pittsburgh. It is not usual for them to coincide on the track, but in the victory against Iowa State they did and they demonstrated their great connection. Jorge -number 31, to distinguish them- assisted Guillermo -number 25- by boat so that he could crush. “I think I’m going to start playing as a point guard,” joked the first after the game. He is 2.11 meters tall. His brother, 2.13. “There are no words to describe it and how we feel”, both said about the victory and that play.
“We’ve been playing together for so long that we understand each other just by looking. It’s like a dream to be able to play with your brother and make plays together in front of an incredible crowd. We are very happy,” the twins commented recently after a Pittsburgh victory. Coach Jeff Capel he is delighted with its performance. “These two young men are amazing. From the moment they made their official visit here and we can be close to them every day, they are happy to play basketball, to be good colleagues, to work. They are not afraid of him. They are going to be very good here.”predicts.
The Diaz Graham twins embrace after a win.
This action and many others in which they participated were of great help to Pittsburgh, the eleventh seed in its division, will defeat Iowa State, the sixth seed, 59-41.. Guillermo, who started due to the physical problems of the starting center, played 25 minutes and contributed nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Jorge was a substitute to play 10 minutes in which he had two points, five rebounds and the aforementioned sensational assist. The defense of his team left the rival in 23.3% in shots from the field. The next rival will be Xavier University, third favorite in that Division. even more difficult.
The Díaz Grahams live their first year in Pittsburgh, where they arrived after a season at the IMG Bradenton Academy in Florida. Jorge has played 29 games with averages of 2.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 9.2 minutes on court. Guillermo has participated in 32 games and has averaged 3.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 11.3 minutes. A ‘cap’ of his with 2.7 seconds to go had been decisive in the previous victory over Mississippi State 60-59. His team has a record this season of 24-11 and has reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years.
The doctors already said they were going to be high
The twins are the first athletes in their family. His father, Francisco, is of good height and played basketball at an amateur level. The doctors warned the family that the children would be tall and they were not wrong. So, despite the fact that soccer caught their attention, they started basketball at the age of five. They started at Club Santo Domingo de Tenerife and stayed there until they ended up at Lenovo Tenerife before crossing the Atlantic.
Guillermo Díaz Graham, together with Juan Núñez, in a Eurobasket U20 match.
The Spanish Basketball Federation had already had its eye on them. The two were in the preselection of the Eurobasket U20 from last year. Finally, Only Guillermo remained among the 12 chosen and was champion by defeating Lithuania in the final 61-69. In that team there were players who have already debuted in the elite as Juan Núñez, tournament MVP, Michael Caicedo, Miguel Malik Allen, Guillem Ferrando, Millán Jiménez… The center, one of the towers of that team, collaborated with averages of 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Now, together with his brother Jorge, he tries to continue growing in the NCAA with the Panthers jersey. Beating Xavier in the next round would be a major surprise.
