A Family of Champions

Oct. 11, 2007

By Jeff Lippman / CSTV.com

Oklahoma would like to think of its basketball team as being a family, and a very athletic one at that. But for two Sooners players, they take having an athletic family to a whole new level.

A quick glance down coach Sherri Coale's roster and two names stand out. Okay, four if you count the fact that the team has a set of twins who were both recently selected for preseason all-conference honors - Courtney and Ashley Paris.

But the two names I'm referring to are that of sophomore center Abi Olajuwon and freshman forward Carlee Roethlisberger.

Abi's dad, of course, is Hakeem Olajuwon, the two-time NBA champion and one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. And Carlee's brother is none other than Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Together, the famed athletes, one retired, the other in the prime of his career, have won a total of three championships. They have winning in their blood. And now their blood hopes to bring winning championships to Norman.

Uncle Big-Shot Bob

When 6-foot-4 Abi Olajuwon was just a little girl she spent lots of time around the Houston Rockets, the team her dad starred on.

"I got to have a lot of experiences that I guess the average person didn't get to have," she said. "I traveled with the team a lot and a lot of his teammates to me felt like uncles. I was the youngster hanging around and that is pretty much who I grew up with."

And while she says her father was always attentive, while traveling on the team bus, or staying in hotels, it was nice to have his teammates around to keep her company when he was busy.

"My two best friends back in the day were Robert Horry and Clyde Drexler," she said. "They always let me sit next to them on the bus and gave me advice as a little kid. That was just an extra set of eyes making sure that I didn't get lost or left at practice."

Click here to continue reading the article at CSTV.com

The Paris twins were a no-brainer, but Jeff Lippman, CSTV.com's lead women's basketball writer, thinks that the Big 12 coaches may be making a mistake by overlooking Oklahoma point guard Jenna Plumley and forward Amanda Thompson on its Click here to read his thoughts.

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