The Mayo Twins: Embracing a New Dynamic

During this holiday week Temple Athletics will share stories of siblings playing for their respective Owl teams. This is the fifth of a six-part series.

After playing together as teammates for the Temple women's basketball team from 2017-21, Emani and Nicolette Mayo have enjoyed a new dynamic as the two have navigated the player-coach relationship this season for the Owls.

Through the first quarter of the 2021-22 campaign, Emani has played in all 11 games for the Owls, starting in eight contests. In total, Emani has played in 121 career games for the Cherry & White which ranks among the most in career games played. On the other hand, Nicolette has quickly transitioned into her graduate assistant coaching role in her first year on the staff.

"They have transitioned me into the role easily," Nicolette said. "I'm trying to make sure that I'm doing my part, so whatever coach needs me to do, that's my role. I've always been the person to give my input where I feel like it is needed, and if that requires being the 'bad guy' for a few minutes then that's okay with me."

The Mayo twins have not missed a beat in their relationship as Nicolette has started her new role. Supporting and coaching Emani was not something that was new to Nicolette as that role came naturally for her throughout college.

"Nicolette has always been that coach in my ear, so now she officially actually is that coach in my ear," Emani said. "She has been filling that role for all of these years, always supporting me."

The two sisters came to Temple in 2017 with Emani being the first to decide that she was taking her talents to North Philadelphia. That left Nicolette with a choice – attend Temple with her sister as a walk-on or take a scholarship offer elsewhere to play basketball. After her high school senior season, Nicolette made the decision to join the Owls.

"It was really last-minute when we knew for sure that we were coming to Temple together," Nicolette said. "Ultimately, it would have been hard to be apart, and although it took sacrifice, now I'll never regret choosing to follow Emani here."

The twins from Hephzibah, Ga. grew up surrounded by basketball as well as a host of other sports when their mother, Colette, signed them up for cheerleading, softball, soccer, and basketball when they were only five years old.

"Our parents really pushed us to go out and play any sport that we wanted which was nice," Emani said. "However, we really found basketball to be the sport that we were most passionate about."

After playing basketball while growing up, Emani and Nicolette had their sights set on playing collegiate basketball at a young age.

"We won championships back in middle school and having that feeling gave me the sense of thinking 'okay I can actually do this,'" Emani said. "So, by middle school I realized that I wanted to play at the collegiate level."

Now that Emani and Nicolette are together at Temple University, their bond and relationship has grown even more throughout the years as the two have experienced plenty of ups and downs as roommates as well as teammates. Despite the competitive nature that is ingrained in the two, the want to support and better each other remains stronger than ever.

"We want to see each other win. We want to see each other be better, and I think each year while we were here, we were able to get something out of one another," Nicolette said. "We have goals, and it gets competitive, but ultimately, Emani knows that I'm on her team, I want her to win, so when you have somebody like that and we have each other, you would never take that for granted."

Always on the same team throughout their lives, the two continue to navigate the 2021-22 season together as the Owls start conference play at the turn of the new year when the Owls take on UCF on Sunday, Jan. 2.

Temple University Athletics

The Mayo Twins: Embracing a New Dynamic

Players Mentioned

Nicolette Mayo

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