Charelle Espino, 17, and Daylen Robinson, 18, are sibling starters of the Vikings boys and girls varsity basketball teams. Emily Randall

By Emily Randall
Northeast News
Feb. 10, 2010

It’s already unusual for two non-twin siblings to be in the same grade, but for both of them to be star athletes is a rather unique situation.

Such is the case for Northeast High School seniors Daylen Robinson, 18, and Charelle Espino, 17. The siblings are starting players on the Vikings boys and girls varsity basketball teams. Typical sibling rivalry aside, their mutual athletic success has been a positive thing for this brother and sister.

Charelle said her big brother, who is the district basketball superstar, has taught her a lot about the sport.

“If I’m at home, got nothing to do, I go up to the community center and play ball with him,” she said. “He taught me how to shoot with my left hand.”

Despite their apparent similarities — mainly their closeness in age and love of basketball — Daylen and Charelle are different people with different game styles. Charelle is talkative and outgoing, and Daylen is more reserved and quiet spoken. She aspires to be a nurse or elementary teacher, and he is looking toward studying law. Both basketball team leaders, Daylen is modest about his sky-high scoring average. He said he tends to keep cool during a game, while his little sister tends to get a temper.

“She gets mad during the games, like if somebody fouls her,” he said. “I just work on that with her, tell her to calm down.”

This year has been a whirlwind for Daylen. Currently holding the highest point average in the state at 34.3 points a game, he’s the crux of the Northeast boys basketball strategy.

“[Our game plan is] give Daylen the ball and get the heck out of the way,” coach Mark Scanlon joked.

With pressure on him as team captain — he works to keep the other players focused and encourages them to keep their grades up — Daylen also handles scouting out colleges, family responsibilities and schoolwork. He also plays for the Vikings football team, which means sports keep him busy year round.

At home, he baby-sits his 2-year-old nephew, an activity he said he enjoys as he is already teaching the youngster to dribble a basketball.

With everything going on in his life, a tragedy this past year didn’t stop the driven teenager. His older brother, Darron Jacobs, who was a college student at Missouri State, was shot to death.

“I use that to motivate me,” Daylen said. “I just think he’s looking down on us, telling us to play hard, take nothing for granted.”

Daylen’s goal is to play basketball at a Division 1 school next year — he’s got his eyes on the University of Missouri or Texas A&M. Whatever happens, his coach is positive he’ll have a future in the sport.

“He definitely will play college ball,” Scanlon said. “He might start off at a junior college first or he might go straight to a four-year school — and he’ll get a free education, which is a pretty good deal.”

Charelle, too, is looking to play college ball — both basketball and volleyball. She plans to start out next year at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley and then move on to Ottawa University.

There will be an excellent opportunity to catch Charelle and Daylen in action this weekend, as the Vikings celebrate their court warming Friday. The boys will face off against Hogan Prep, ranked No. 2 in the state, at 7 p.m. at the NEHS gym. There will be plenty of festivities, including a court crowning at half time, drill team, dance team and drumline performance. Then on Saturday, the girls will play at 7 p.m. at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Overland Park.