Sibling duos compete in basketball, encourage improvement
Since elementary school, senior Sinclair and junior Grady Richman have been in love with the game of basketball. Born just one year apart in a competitive family, the siblings constantly compete and motivate each other to improve.
Shooting guard Sinclair Richman has been a co-captain on the varsity girls basketball team for three years and believes her strong suit is shooting.
“I’m a pretty good shooter, it’s definitely my main role on the team,” Sinclair Richman said. “I try to take any open shot, I try to create shots for myself and I try to just be aggressive as possible with rebounds and assists.”
Similar to his sister, Grady Richman, a point guard on the varsity boys basketball team, said he also specializes in shooting.
“When I get the ball, I look to shoot, because it’s what I’m best at,” Grady Richman said. “I go to every practice, I work hard and I try my best to contribute anywhere where I can. I spend most of the time training my shot because it is how I can most benefit the team.”
Martravious Little, coach of the varsity girls basketball team, has coached both Grady and Sinclair Richman during his time at Midtown. With Sinclair Richman recently reaching 1000 career points, Little said that both siblings are extremely efficient scorers.
“I’ve had the opportunity of working with both Grady and Sinclair,” Little said. “They’re the same person. They’re both crazy, knock-down shooters, which is amazing because they’re in the same family. They’re the best shooters in the school.”
Little enjoys coaching the siblings because of their strong work ethic.
“It’s always great to coach two shooters, but what I enjoy most about coaching them is that those kids both work hard,” Little said. “They’re not going to give you attitude or complain, they just keep going.”
Sinclair and Grady Richman have both competed against each other and helped each other improve throughout their basketball careers, explaining why they both are excellent shooters. Grady Richman thinks Sinclair’s ability to shoot has helped him improve his own shot, and his defense has helped her improve her ball-handling skills.
“Ever since we were kids, we have played one-on-one and basketball games as a family,” Grady Richman said. “I’ll always guard her, and she’ll always guard me so that we can help each other improve. It’s definitely helped me become better because she’s a really good shooter and helped me change my style so I can shoot better. I think it’s also helped her improve because I’m taller and a good defender, so she’s learned to improve her skills to score around me.”
Sinclair Richman attributes much of their dynamic to the environment they grew up in, where she played competitive games against her brother.
“We are part of a very competitive family,” Sinclair Richman said. “We play a lot of sports, family board games and other activities, which are often very competitive. Me and Grady both want to win, so it’s pushed us to be better as we compete as hard as we can in basketball. We spent a lot of time playing basketball and shooting during the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped us to improve a lot.”
Seeing his children Sinclair and Grady Richman develop as players, father Tim Richman said he appreciated their bond over basketball. Tim Richman believes that their ability to constantly encourage each other has led to their improvement in the sport.
“They are big supporters of each other,” Tim Richman said. “When Grady was playing JV, his team would practice against the varsity girls team, and they really enjoyed that because they were able to play against each other. When I think about them playing against each other in our family games, they battle hard against each other; they don’t give each other an inch. It’s been amazing to go to the games and watch their dynamic play out again, but this time on the varsity court. They support each other from the beginning to the end.”
Little similarly recalls their dynamic, and believes that their support of one another has been vital to their success.
“Last year, I was able to watch their dynamic clearly,” Little said. “I saw Sinclair coaching him, giving her younger brother the same tips that I gave her. And, inversely, Grady is one of the most encouraging people I know in the gym. He goes up to his sister and hits her with some brotherly love and says ‘Come on, you can do it.’”
At just four years old, juniors Devin and Trent Bockman picked up their first basketball. Growing up in a family obsessed with basketball, the sport quickly became a core part of their lives. This passion has since driven their competitive spirit and led to significant accomplishments in the sport.
Both varsity girls basketball team point guard Devin and varsity boys basketball team point guard Trent Bockman started their basketball careers with a small community church league before eventually becoming significantly involved with the sport.
“I started playing basketball when I was four years old as something I did for fun once or twice a week,” Devin Bockman said. “As I got older, I started to realize I like basketball more. My brother played for an AAU program so sometimes I would go train with him and go to the camp over the summer, which definitely helped me improve my skills. However, I never really decided to take basketball seriously until high school.”
Trent not only had his mom and sister pushing him, but his older brother as well, who introduced him to basketball. It quickly became his favorite sport, becoming a priority in his life.
“When I started playing I was probably like five years old,” Trent Bockman said. “I would always play with my brother because he loved playing. Basketball has always been my favorite sport so it wasn’t hard to choose basketball over football when it was time to choose a sport to take more seriously.”
According to their mother, Danielle Ryan, watching her children develop as basketball players has been special to her.
“Obviously, it brings me great joy to watch them out on the basketball court and for them to contribute to both the boys and girls programs,” Ryan said. “I know how basketball provided me with so many opportunities in life, and it is a connection to my childhood and how I was raised. I try to be present and help Devin and Trent in any way I can with their basketball careers.”
While Devin and Trent Bockman have influenced each other’s style of playing basketball, Little believes Devin is more of an offensive player, whereas Trent is more of a defensive player.
“Devin is a player; she can score on all three levels,” Little said. “She works hard on the offensive end, and we need her to score points. But for Trent, he’s not expected to score as many buckets; we need him to lock down and work hard to guard the best player.
Ryan believes her children are both vital to the teams’ success as they both bring leadership and dedication.
“They are both players that lead their teams by example,” Ryan said. “They are quiet players on the court, but work hard at practice and are very coachable. I always told them to let their game speak for itself.”
Devin credits much of her success to her brother, as she was able to learn how to effectively play in different environments by watching him for many years.
“When we were in middle school, my brother played for an AAU team that had their own trainers,” Devin Bockman said. “I think just him being on that team allowed me to get more exposure to different types of more serious environments because that is when I realized basketball could possibly be something I want to do.”
Trent said his family has pushed him to be the best and to get to the next level. This level of competitiveness throughout his basketball experience has inspired him to further his basketball career.
“Me and Devin are very competitive, and we push each other to be better,” Trent Bockman said. “My mom has impacted my career a lot because she was my coach growing up and used to train me a lot. Also, she played basketball in college which I want to do. In the future, I’m looking to play at the next level.”
Like Sinclair and Grady Richman, competition and encouragement are a crucial part of Devin and Trent Bockman’s dynamic, contributing to their success. However, Little believes that their element of encouragement, while supportive, is more straightforward and honest.
“Devin and Trent’s encouragement for each other is more of a push than comfort,” Little said. “They always tell each other they can do better. Grady and Sinclair are more supportive, but with Devin and Trent, their push and motivation is ‘you can be better.’”
