By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The bond between twins can be one of the strongest in humankind.
Sharing a womb and entering the world just minutes a part makes it hard to separate a duo. For Brighton graduates DeMaryo and DeMiyah Gatlin, their connection has been strengthen through common interest, shared pains and familiar faces.
The first faces to greet and teach the pair were parents Stan and Demeka on March 14, 2003. DeMaryo beat his sister into the world by three minutes.
Since that day the Gatlin Twins have enjoyed a friendly competition while living up to the expectations of their educator parents and achievements of older siblings including big brother Tae’lyr playing Division I basketball at the University of Denver.
“It was like a combination of both us being a team and versus,” DeMaryo recalled. “Growing up a lot of times we’ll bump heads. In school she would always try to cheat for me. She’ll try to help me get the answers.”
“I was supposed to do that right?” DeMiyah replied.
“I was definitely the leader, I keep your head on straight?” she asked her brother.
DeMaryo acknowledged his sister did keep him accountable and over time he has returned the favor.
“He tried to keep me on the right track too,” she said. “He tried to influence me to do better.”
Being fraternal twins, the Gatlins had a chance to carve different paths while embracing their special bond at times. Before DeMaryo became a basketball and track standout at Brighton and DeMiyah was a standout Lady Cardinal in hoops and volleyball, they navigated their youth as no-so identical twins.
“At first they didn’t because she was always taller than me,” DeMaryo recalled. “They would always think she’s older than me.
“We went to a restaurant one time and they gave my sister an adult-size drink,” he added. “And they gave me a little baby drink. I still remember that until this day.”
It was a few years ago DeMaryo finally claimed his status as the older twin through stature.
“Sometime in middle school he started to catch up with my height,” DeMiyah said. “It was just given that folks knew we were twins. We didn’t announce to the world. They just knew. It was kind of known and we were OK with it.”
That twin bond was needed for DeMaryo and DeMiyah four years ago.
“I would say our freshman year we had to work together,” DeMaryo said. “It was a our first year at Brighton in general. We came in not knowing anyone. We kind of stayed to ourselves.”
Although they were new to the school, there were several high expectations awaiting the pair with their dad Stan Gatlin authoring some of the best seasons in Cardinal Basketball history. Their older brother Tae’lyr was the all-time leading scorer in Brighton Basketball history.
“It was GATLIN,” DeMiyah recalled. “If your last name is Gatlin they already knew you. Big brother or Coach Gatlin, Coach Gatlin is your dad?”
“You’re Tae’lyr Gatlin’s brother?” DeMaryo added. “I embraced (that comparison) because I’ve always looked up to him probably since elementary school. I always wanted to try to one-up him competitionwise. I would just try to challenge myself to get better and better every day so I could one day play an actual good game of one-on-one against him. It has actually happened. I loss but it was a great game.”
DeMaryo embracing the challenge of being as good as his big brother allowed him to blossom into the go-to player for his father’s team the past two seasons. On the girls’ side DeMiyah was a key player for the Lady Cardinals during her sophomore and juniors seasons.
But a PCL injury took a huge chunk of her senior campaign. She battled back in time to help her Lady Cardinals win the district play-in game to reach Regionals.
With an All-District senior season in volleyball, scouts were wondering which sport DeMiyah would pick for college. She selected basketball and signed a scholarship to play at Southwest Tennessee starting this fall.
As DeMiyah’s senior season ended on a high note, DeMaryo’s last campaign as a Cardinal saw him limping to the finish line. Missing his Senior Night in basketball, DeMaryo rallied to compete in track in the high jump.
“At first it was extremely hard with me getting hurt every season,” he recalled. “Whether it be an ankle injury or knee injury, my senior year was harder because I tore my PCL. I wasn’t sure I would be able to do track in the first place.
“Once I attempted it, I guess I was decent at it and made it to State happily with the help of Coach Scott and McGinnis,” DeMaryo continued. “And the help with the trainer from Millington Dennis Alexander.”
DeMiyah said through the trials and tribulations, the foundation formed at home, tough love from their coach/dad and having a person to share it with helped her.
“Just be the best I could be,” she said was her mindset. “I wasn’t trying to compare myself to anyone. I know my skill set and what I could do. I just want to be better than I was yesterday. I never really compared myself to my siblings because in my eyes we’re all different. We all have different skill sets. We’re all good but we all have a level of good that’s different.
“The spotlight was on us,” DeMiyah added. “Even when the spotlight wasn’t on us — it was on us. It was definitely more challenging because he was our dad. It was always in our head, ‘Yeah he’s our Coach but he’s still our dad.’ It was definitely challenging keeping our head on the court and at home.”
Whether it was an AAU game or a night in the Brighton Gymnasium, DeMiyah had DeMaryo and DeMaryo had the back of DeMiyah.
“At the beginning most people didn’t think we could live up to the expectations that were given to us,” DeMaryo acknowledged. “Most people thought we were going to fail. We turned the corner.
“At one point we didn’t look so well,” he concluded. “I would say that was probably our freshman and sophomore seasons. Then our junior and senior years we turned the corner. Those were our years.”
