Meet The Australian Twins Who Traveled Almost 12,000 Miles To Play Basketball For La Salle University
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a long way from Perth Australia to Philadelphia -- just like a shade under 12,000 miles. But that's where a pair of La Salle University sharpshooters hail from.
How did the freshmen Jacobs twins end up in North Philadelphia?
Claire and Amy Jacobs say they knew they wanted to come to the United States for college to play basketball and they did everything possible to get here.
"We knew we wanted to come to America to play basketball so we went through a recruiting company to get here," Amy said. "And they sent emails out. And an email got sent to Coach Mountain. He looked at our profile and sent an email back and seemed to like it. And then he flew to Australia to come see us."
Coach Mountain MacGillivray says the email he got was basically just data.
"There was no poetry, just data," MacGillivray said. "Watched the game film, was impressed immediately, sent the game film to the rest of the staff, they watched it and we were like, you know, do we need two players kinda similar? And we were like, two players that are that good. Yeah,we'll take them."
Thus far, it has paid off for the Explorers. The sisters are averaging over 17 points per game combined.
On the court, head coach MacGillivray says there has been no culture shock.
"They bring a real energy every day," MacGillivray said. "I've rarely seen them have a bad day. Obviously their talent has been really helpful to our team so far this year. But also, they instantly fit in."
Off the court, Clair and Amy are enjoying their new home -- most of it.
"I like it a lot. It's really nice. It's like the movies, we can only base off movies and it's a lot like the movies," Claire said. "It's very different. Most people are really amazing. The people are really nice, the driving is not so nice."
They're slowly learning the nuances of the La Salle program and the city as a whole.
Watch the video above for the full interview.
