MOUNT VERNON – You could, perhaps, call the Kegley brothers ‘opposite twins.’ You would think that after years of going to the same schools and playing on the same teams, they would find something to agree on other than basketball.
Now, both are junior guards for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team.
“You wouldn't guess we're twins,” the 6-foot-8 Tyler Kegley said. “We’re complete opposites. We're different in terms of our interests and hobbies. Honestly, I love math and science. Also, lifting is my big hobby. I love fitness and lifting.”
Not to be outdone, Kyle Kegley (6-9), is a real sportsman.
“I'm an outdoorsman,” Kyle explained. “I like hunting and fishing and doing everything country. Tyler doesn't like it at all.”
While both are pursuing a career in education, they can’t even agree on that.
“I'm in early childhood education,” Kyle said. “I like being around the little kids and helping them. (Tyler) can deal with the high schoolers because I knew how I was in high school, and I would not want to teach myself.”
The Kegley twins graduated from Northmor in 2018, playing on back-to-back league-winning teams first in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and then the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.
Although slightly mismatched, both have endured a rocky ride through college ... together. They were at Lourdes University as freshmen and moved on to Urbana University along with their coach (at the time) Josh Gibson as sophomores. When COVID-19 and financial problems brought on the closure of Urbana this year, the twins hooked on with the Naz.
Both twins had to quarantine with Kyle having tested positive. Tyler was exposed to a friend who turned out to have COVID-19.
“It's been tough,” Tyler said. “I've been quarantined longer than anybody on the team. I don't know how many weeks I've been out. It's been a rough time, but we're figuring it out.”
Kyle has only been practicing since Monday (Nov. 30).
“I actually had COVID,” Kyle said. “I’ve been working hard ever since. That was long overdue. Not 100% in shape, but I’m getting there.”
Their current coach is happy to have them both.
“Kyle and Tyler have been tremendous additions to our program,” MVNU coach Jared Ronai said. “They're great teammates. They work extremely hard and we are really happy that they are a part of us.”
Cougar’s guard Kade Ruegsegger led all scorers with 24 points and teammate Jevon Knox dropped in 20 points — including the 1,700th of his college career — to propel MVNU to an 84-54 shellacking of Taylor on Wednesday, Dec 2.
“Our focus is always on the defensive end,” Ronai said. “I thought we really executed on defensive keys against (Taylor). We finished plays really well.”
That was the MVNU’s season opener due to COVID-19 problems with the Cougars and their opponents. MVNU had its first 10 contests of the season canceled or postponed, including two Crossroads League matchups.
The home matchup against Grace on Nov. 21 has been rescheduled for Jan. 20, 2021, and the game at Saint Francis on Nov. 24 has been moved to Feb. 10, 2021.
