Throughout the City, 'They Are Special'

GW's Adair Twins Give District Fans Reason to Cheer

Jessica and Jazmine Adair began to notice them last winter during their freshman season -- girls of all ages from their old neighborhood in Anacostia, youth groups and teams, arriving at George Washington's Smith Center to see the bruising twins play basketball. They would hear them calling out their names during the game and see them leaning over the railing afterward to catch their attention.

The Adairs always knew they were going to represent a university. Now they were realizing they were going to represent a community as well.

"I tell them all the time, for the city, they are special," Colonials Coach Joe McKeown said, "and they are going to have a special impact."

The Adairs' impact on the court has propelled fifth-seeded GW (28-3) into the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the first time in 10 years and set up a meeting with top seed North Carolina (32-3) on Sunday evening at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

Jessica, a 6-foot-4 starting center, is tied for the team lead in scoring at 13.1 points per game and is first in rebounding (7.8). Her 21 rebounds during a first-round victory over Boise State last weekend in Los Angeles were the second most in GW history and tied for fourth in NCAA tournament history. Jazmine, a 6-3 forward who has played organized basketball for only six years, is McKeown's first option off the bench.

The only sister combination in the nation taller than the Adairs are the 6-7 and 6-6 Bofia twins, from Cameroon, at Arizona.

Playing so close to home, the GW players acknowledge an added duty.

Said Jessica: "I know I have a responsibility to be a role model for kids from the area, to show them that they can do what I have done, so that plays a big factor in why I do the things I do. I am happy I can be that role model for somebody."

The Adairs were raised by their mother, Angela, in Southeast and attended Hart Middle School on Mississippi Avenue. The family moved to Montgomery County before the twins' freshman year in high school, but uncomfortable with their new surroundings, the girls were allowed to move in with Frank Briscoe, who coaches boys' and girls' basketball at Anacostia. Over the years, Briscoe and his family have welcomed several kids from unstable backgrounds to live with them in their home near Howard University. The Adairs were there for about 2 1/2 years until their mother, who now works for Howard's security department, moved back into the city their senior year.

Briscoe first encountered the Adairs when they were in middle school.

"I saw these two 6-foot eighth-graders walk into the room, and I almost fell to the floor," he recalled, laughing. "There was a lot of potential looking back at me."

When the girls moved into his home, "It was rough at first because you're talking about teenage girls, but we got everything straightened out," said Briscoe, who is married and has a younger son.

The Adairs call Briscoe the father figure they never had. While Briscoe guided them on the court -- Jessica became the school's first 1,000-point scorer and the pair led the Indians to four division championships and two DCIAA second-place finishes -- he also introduced them to GW.

"When they were freshmen [at Anacostia], Frank came to me and said, 'They're going to be special, just you wait,' " said McKeown, who is in his 18th season and has known Briscoe for years. "He was right."

Last season, with Jessica slowed by injuries that limited her to 22 appearances and no starts, Jazmine played in 30 of 32 games, starting 16, as the Colonials reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. This season, with Jazmine hampered by foot ailments, Jessica asserted herself as one of the Atlantic 10's premier players.

"It's like my coming-out season," she said. "I proved all this season that I am that player, I can be that good."

Jessica is a power player who often endures double-teaming and scores with both a soft shooting touch and low-post dominance. Jazmine is a superb defender who runs well and is still developing a consistent offensive game.

Most of all, they provide McKeown with size and strength. They often replace each other during the course of a game, which presents an uninterrupted matchup headache for opponents.

"We have Courtney Paris and her sister [who play for Oklahoma and are about the same size as the Adairs] in our conference, so it's nothing we haven't seen," Texas A&M forward Damitria Buchanan said following a 59-47 loss to GW in the NCAA second round on Monday. "But the Adair sisters are a little bit more active in there, a little bit more mobile, which was a little harder to guard."

As the Colonials' profile has risen nationally, so has the attention on the Adairs locally.

Briscoe has brought his team to GW games the last two seasons, and other groups of girls have traveled across town to see the Adairs.

"It's difficult for the kids who don't see themselves as having a bright future, for kids who think they can't make it, but I've always had people supporting me," Jazmine said. "We had goals other than hanging out, doing bad things, being mischievous. It depends on who is behind you."

Briscoe believes the twins will carry a special responsibility throughout their college careers.

"They know -- and we've talked about this a lot -- that it's about who is following you on your journey," he said. "They're breaking down barriers. They're doing well in school and they're doing well on the basketball court. Anacostia is watching them and Anacostia is very proud of them."