The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, especially when the apple is a member of the ISU women’s basketball team. Almost half of the team has close relatives who have been deeply involved in competitive sports.

Sophomore guard Denae Stuckey’s older brother of 11 months, Darrell Stuckey, is the starting safety for Kansas’ football team, which was wildly successful last season and managed to win the Orange Bowl. It was her big brother’s early influence that pushed Denae toward basketball.

“A good advantage was I was able to play with him in a lot of things. When I was younger I didn’t really play with little girls. I mean I had dolls and I played with dolls, but whenever my brother left my mom would make him take me with,” Stuckey said. “So I was going with him to friends’ houses and we played football and basketball, so I got tougher by playing with him and all his friends.”

Sophomore guard Alison Lacey tells a similar story about her brother Mark, who is on the DMACC basketball team. The two are twins; Alison is younger by three minutes.

“Every day after school we played in the backyard. No one wanted to lose to each other,” Lacey said. “For a couple years I would beat him, until he grew to 6 feet, 2 inches and got some muscle. But he made me tough. He didn’t let up on me. He didn’t care that I was a girl.”

Genesis Lightbourne is another player with a tough family member, but her story is a little different. Her father, Gary Lightbourne, has traded blows with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

He never let his daughter put on the gloves and his career was over before Genesis was born, but his involvement in boxing showed the Las Vegas sophomore a different side of the sport.

“Even now when there are big boxing matches in Vegas, my dad and I will go,” Genesis said. “That’s exciting to see and be a part of. My dad still knows them on a first-name basis.”

Junior center Nicky Wieben had an All-American mother in basketball and an All-State sister in swimming. Her mother’s career was ended by a drunk driver before she got the chance to play at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where she had committed to play basketball.

Jamie Wieben was a four-year swimmer for the Cyclones and an all-state athlete at Ankeny, much like her younger sister.

Although her family has strong athletic ties, it was Nicky’s classmates that got her where she is today.

“My family never really pushed me to play basketball,” she said. “I was in about third grade when I started playing and there was a big group of us Ankeny girls who all started playing. It was just our level of girls and we ended up winning four state championships.”

Sophomore Brittany Lange’s father had also impacted her career.

“He coached me from when I was in third or fourth grade until high-school. He was just always there,” Lange said.

Brittany’s father, Tom, was an all-state basketball player at Sac City High School and walked on at Kansas his freshman year before the military sent him to Vietnam, ending his basketball career.

Stuckey

Darrell Stuckey, or, as his sister affectionately calls him, Darrell Dwayne Stuckey II, is the big brother of sophomore guard Denae Stuckey. Darrell, 11 months Denae’s senior, is the starting safety on a Kansas Jayhawk football team. Darrell was a redshirt sophomore this season and a vital part of the best defense in the Big 12 and fourth-best defense in the nation. His sister said he was just as good at baseball as he is at football. While playing in his senior year of high school, however, Darrell was hurt hitting the dirt to slide, making his decision to focus on football an easy one. Denae, although from Kansas City, stays loyal to her cardinal and gold, even when the Cyclones face her own brother. “I was rootin’ for ISU,” Stuckey said. “I cheer for my brother though. I was rootin’ for him to get some good plays or whatever, but I was still rootin’ for ISU.” Darrell had a chance to make it up to Ames from Lawrence to watch his little sister when she and her teammates took on Nebraska earlier this season. Denae said he was a bit critical while watching. “He always picks on me, telling me I need to drive more or I’m being too soft, or whatever,” Stuckey said. “He enjoys them though.”

Lightbourne

Gary Lightbourne has battled the likes of former heavyweight boxing champions Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson and his daughter plays basketball at Iowa State. She didn’t know for sure, but Genesis assumed he lost those two bouts. When her mom was pregnant she would go to the fights, but Genesis never actually saw her father box in person, as his career ended before she was born. Genesis said she and her dad still go to big matches in Vegas, and apparently her dad is still in the boxing loop, as he knows important people on a first-name basis. Gary doesn’t let his daughter put on the gloves, although she admits it would be fun. “I asked my dad about it, if I could, but he says no,” Genesis said. “I think I could though, I got that reach.” Gary stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and although Genesis is only 6 feet tall herself, she claims to have her dad’s body type, as well as his athletic ability. Her 22-year-old half-sister, Tremain, on the other hand, is more the brainiac in the family. She is currently studying law across the Atlantic, in England.

Wieben

Judi Wieben was an honorable-mention All-American basketball player for Maple Valley High School when girl’s basketball was 6-on-6. She had committed to play basketball for the University of Nebraska-Omaha, but a drunk driver crashed into her on the road and ended her career. “When they found her, her legs were in the splits. They had to get the jaws of life to get her out of her car,” junior Nicky Wieben said about her mother. “Her nose was broke, she almost lost an eye; it was just a really bad accident.” So bad that she almost had her legs amputated, but the doctors decided her legs would be strong enough. Now, though, Judi can live her basketball experiences through her daughter and can often be seen doing the cabbage patch dance at women’s basketball games. Nicky’s sister, Jamie, was also a phenomenal athlete, but she was a swimmer. Jamie was an all-state selection her junior and senior years at Ankeny High School, then bolted north to Ames to swim for the Cyclones. “Honestly, she was a big reason why I came to Iowa State,” Nicky said. “She was a senior when I was a freshman, and it was really helpful having her here that year.”

Lacey

Mark Lacey’s friends played basketball, which made him want to play, which, in turn, made his twin sister, Alison, want to play. Mark is an Ames High graduate who currently plays at DMACC. Long before he was hoopin’ for the Bears, he was battling his younger sister of three minutes in the backyard. “Every day after school we played in the back yard,” Alison said. “No one wanted to lose to each other.” Alison said she could consistently defeat her brother until around the age of 16, when he shot up to 6 feet, 2 inches and gained more muscle. The two didn’t really have a style of game they played. No make-it-take-it, or 21 – just play until somebody was getting beat and too upset to go on, or until it was dark outside. All that time spent playing against each other molded them into the similar players they are today, although Alison thinks she has an advantage with the stroke. “Of course I shoot better than him,” she said. “He’s got a funny-looking shot, but it goes in. He’s been teased about it his whole life.”

Lange

Sophomore Brittany Lange’s family is, as the kids would say, the bomb. Her father, Tom Lange, is a 6-foot-5-inch all-state basketball player during his high-school years at Sac City in northwest Iowa. At the time of his departure from the school, he held the all-time scoring record, a record that was broken a little more than 30 years later by his daughter and Iowa State’s own, Brittany Lange. The two are now one and two on the all-time list, and since the school doesn’t exist anymore, they will forever hold Sac City High School’s records. Tom seems to think Brittany had a slight advantage when it came to scoring though. “He argues with me that he didn’t have a three-point line to play with,” Brittany said. “He always tries to fit that in there.” Tom went to the University of Kansas in the early ’70s and made the team as a walk-on. His basketball career was ended after he was sent to Vietnam for the war. Brittany’s grandfather was also an all-state basketball player at Sac City and a multi-sport athlete at Iowa State, playing basketball and football. Her mother played college ball at a small school in Nebraska and her brother, Tyler, leads his high school team in points and rebounds.