To some, sports is just the game, a way to blow off steam or forget about the stress of daily life. To others, sports is life, something individuals pour their blood, sweat and tears into to be great or fulfilled.

But for six Wildcats, sports is family – literally.

Starting this fall, three sets of twins are playing on the various Wildcat teams. Landon and Luke Roaten, junior offensive linemen from Tomball, on the football team, Amelia and Raelin Miller, sophomore soccer players from Winter Park, Florida, and Emma and Molly Daugherty, freshmen on the women’s basketball team, from Summerville, South Carolina.

What’s more, this isn’t the first such triple double confluence. It also happened in 2016, when women’s basketball, cross country and baseball all sported sets of twins.

The Roatens came to Abilene from Washington State University, where they were rostered for three years but did not get the playing time they desired.

“We didn’t really have any opportunity,” Landon Roaten said. “We wanted to come together. I had other offers, he had other offers, but ACU wanted us both.”

At one point back in high school, they were each committed to different places. Luke was committed to the University of Wyoming and Landon was committed to the University of Tulsa.

“We wanted to keep our relationship,” Luke Roaten said. “We decided to decommit and let whatever happens, happen.”

Though they were never a “package deal,” they both knew what they had and wanted to keep it going, whether they were in Pullman, Washington or Abilene.

“It’s a dream to play with your brother in college,” Landon said. “Especially now, he’s the right tackle and I’m the right guard. I can’t really ask for more than that.”

When it comes to their performance on the field, Offensive Line Coach Ryan Pugh loves what they bring to the team, both individually and together.

“They both have great size, length and athletic ability,” Pugh said. “They both have great work ethic, are super intelligent and have good leadership qualities.”

While most may think twins have an indescribable connection that binds them together, the Roatens sometimes come off as the opposite.

“I give them a hard time because even though they’re twins, sometimes it’s like they don’t even like each other,” Pugh said.

Even Luke agrees.

“We get on each other,” Luke said. “We’re hard on each other and in games we’ll be complaining at each other, but it’s good. We communicate really well. That’s the biggest thing.”

Raelin and Amelia Miller, sophomores from Winter Park, Florida, pose for Women’s Soccer Media Day photos (Photo courtesy of Raelin Miller)

For the Millers, it was never a question that they would play together. It began with their club soccer coach, who saw what they had on the field, making them decide early on whether they would keep their connection or explore college individually.

“We decided we wanted to go together,” Amelia Miller said.  “We always looked at schools together and eventually picked ACU.”

Graduates of Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Winter Park, Florida, the Millers won three consecutive 4A Florida Soccer State Championships while each being named All-Area 1st Team Top-10 twice.

“It was always a competitiveness between us that pushed us to be better,” Amelia said. “The connection we had was fun and allowed us to grow.”

The Millers brought their success and their twin chemistry to the Wildcats soccer team starting in the fall of 2024. They both knew they wanted to play together, but had to compromise about where that would be.

“We always met in the middle,” Amelia said. “If the coach wanted us together, then we would be fine with it.”

Fortunately for the Millers, they did not have to decide if they were ever willing to go different ways, as they never received an offer that would split them up.

They had toured schools and liked what they had seen. However, once they found Abilene, they knew they wanted to be Wildcats.

“Once we toured ACU, we both looked at each other and were like ‘Yeah, this is the place we want to go,’” Raelin said. “It was meant to be.”

The community stood out to the Millers. What was just a simple gesture from the team turned into what sealed the deal.

“The people were just so nice,” Raelin said. “All of the girls on the team wrote us a letter, and they all signed it. We were like, ‘This is so sweet, no other team has done this.’”

What made the difference in the letters was not just the gesture; it was the team seeing them as individuals.

“They made two of them,” Raelin said. “They did it for each of us, not just together. It was like they found us as our own separate person.”

Emma and Molly Daugherty, freshman from Summerville, South Carolina, pose for Media Day before their freshman season. (Photo courtesy of Molly Daugherty)

Molly and Emma Daugherty, the freshmen from Summerville, South Carolina, had a unique experience with college recruitment. While attending Summerville High School, they were connected with Head Coach Julie Goodenough through their high school principal.

Goodenough coached at Charleston Southern University from 2006 to 2012. While in Charleston, Goodenough’s husband, Rob, was a junior high principal. A principal Rob worked with, Kenny Farrell, ended up being a crucial piece in the Daughertys’ playing for the Wildcats.

“We moved back to Abilene, and Kenny got the principal job at the high school,” Goodenough said. “The Daughertys moved to Summerville High School and were really good basketball players.”

After moving from Indiana, the Daughertys were looking for a good basketball camp. When their father asked where they should go to basketball camp, Farrell told him they needed to go to Abilene.

“They sent them out to camp,” Goodenough said. “They came out for two years and came to campus several times and just loved it. Had we not lived in Charleston, and Rob not been friends with Kenny, we never would have known them.”

With a built-in practice partner, the twins were always going at it, working to improve their skills and having fun.

“We just compete against each other and push each other to get better every day,” Emma said.

Emma, a 6-foot-1-inch forward, was a four-year varsity starter while being named a captain for three years and making the all-region team three times.

Molly, a 5-foot-10-inch guard, scored over 1,000 points in her high school career as a four-year varsity starter. In 2023-24 as a junior, Molly was named Preps Hoops Player of the Year.

“I was always taller than Emma, and then all of a sudden she shot up during our sophomore year,” Molly said. “We would always play one-on-one, making each other better.”

The constant head-to-head practice has shaped them into similar, yet different, players who Goodenough looks forward to having on the court in purple and white.

“They have similar skill sets,” Goodenough said. “They both have really good court vision, they’re good passers, and they can both play point guard.”

Goodenough also said that Emma’s ability as a guard, combined with her length and ability to shoot, would make her a good power forward for the Wildcats.

“They’re both good shooters,” Goodenough said. “They’re both strong and really tough kids.”

Since joining the Wildcats in the fall of 2025, Goodenough has worked with the twins on the same team a lot during practice to utilize the “twin telepathy” they bring to the team.

“That’s something nobody else can have,” Goodenough said. “They’ll tell you they are each other’s best friends, and they act like that. They’re super loyal and just have each other’s back all the time. They have a really sweet relationship.”

Goodenough has also used the twins’ dynamic and relationship to bring the team closer together as a family.

“We try to build a family atmosphere in the locker room,” Goodenough said. “We already have the sister-to-sister connection in there. I think their example helps encourage the rest of our team to make it like a family.”

This will be the second time Goodenough has coached twin Wildcats. From 2013-16, Lizzy and Suzzy Dimba, identical twin forwards from Lubbock, played in the purple and white. 

“When I was recruiting them, I took them over to Teague and showed them the picture of the Dimbas,” Goodenough said. “I said, ‘That’s the last set of twins we had here. They were pretty incredible.’”