Sweat drips down his face as he dribbles the ball past his teammate. Then, his teammate races across the driveway and tries to steal the ball away. He maneuvers his way toward the basket and shoots the ball through the hoop. The game is over. Another player approaches them, and they high five each other. A woman appears and calls the family to dinner.
Freshmen Allen, Eric and Kevin Thomas are not only brothers, but fraternal triplets. They are all on the basketball team and spend the majority of their time playing basketball with each other.
Raider Echo: What is it like to be a triplet?
Allen: Good, because [of the attention] from being a triplet. People know you from being triplets. It’s also unique.
Eric: I think it’s very special that we are all triplets.
Kevin: It’s fun. You can always talk to someone, and you can do anything with them. It’s not going to be boring, and you can just hang out and have fun.
RE: What is your favorite thing about being a triplet?
Allen: We get to do our homework together, and I like getting recognized as triplets.
Eric: We can play basketball together.
Kevin: If two of us fight, then the other one tries to stop it and make it all better.
RE: What do you dislike about being triplets?
Allen: Just like normal siblings, they can get annoying.
Eric: Sometimes, it’s too much attention.
RE: What are some memorable incidences about being triplets?
Allen: One time, when we went to basketball [practice] for the first time, we told everyone that we were all brothers. No one thought that we were all brothers, [because] we don’t look alike.
Eric: In the summer, we always go to India. One time in India, we went to a place kind of like Six Flags, called Veegaland, and we had a lot of fun there.
RE: Why do you guys enjoy playing basketball with each other?
Allen: We all know how each of us plays, so when we play on the team, we sometimes have advantages.
Eric: We all play different positions in the game.
Kevin: We know what we are each best at, like what he can or can’t do.
RE: What are some qualities or aspects you guys like about each other?
Allen: Eric is really funny, and he does weird things that are funny. Kevin is easy to hang out with and talk to.
Eric: They’re both really smart, and they both help me out when I need help. They’re both really good at basketball, and I like playing with them.
Kevin: When we have a lot of homework, Allen knows what to do. For Eric, you could just talk to him, and it usually doesn’t matter what you say to him. We’re all funny, so it’s fun to talk with each other.
RE: What qualities are you guys most envious about each other?
Allen: I’m jealous of [Eric’s] shooting in basketball. Kevin, I’m jealous of him because he’s taller than me.
Eric: I think [Allen is] really smart, and I want to be like him.
Kevin: Allen is really smart. Eric is really good at basketball, so he always wins.
RE: How do people usually react when they find out that you guys are triplets?
Allen: Even though I’m the smallest, I’m the oldest. Even though we’re triplets we’re all different. When [people] expect triplets, they expect us to look alike and be similar, but our personalities are different.
Eric: Really surprised.
Kevin: People think that we should be alike, but we’re not. Sometimes [people] think that I should be the oldest.
RE: How does your family feel about having triplets?
Allen: They are blessed, because they didn’t have kids for like 13 years until they had us.
Eric: Our parents care for us so much. They [didn’t have] kids until we were born.
Kevin: They never expected it, because my mom had like eight miscarriages. So she had no idea that this was going to happen. They were kind of shocked.
RE: Has there ever been a situation in which you wished you were not triplets?
Allen: When people get mixed up with our names.
Eric: Yeah, sometimes people say that me and Kevin look alike or maybe me and Allen look alike.
Kevin: When I am mad at them [about] something. I feel like sometimes it would be easier or [more fun] if I wasn’t a triplet.
RE: Does your family treat each of you differently?
Allen: In different situations. Like, they gave me my own room and made Eric and Kevin share a room, because I was the oldest by one minute.
Eric: They like us the same.
Kevin: They treat us the same. You know like Alvin and the Chipmunks; they always compare us to that. They call us nicknames.
Freshmen Allen, Kevin and Eric Thomas