Double vision: How the Smith twins are powering The Gregory School basketball programs

Twins often share a connection that is forged before birth and one that lasts a lifetime. 

Most twins are deeply connected in ways that few others can understand, and they tend to have common threads. 

For the Smith twins, Razin and Zena, basketball is a bond that the brother-and-sister tandem has shared their entire lives. Their parents, Razin Sr. and Gina Smith, were former players and transitioned into coaching, so the Smith siblings learned how to crawl on the hardwood of a basketball court.

Now, Razin Smith Jr. (pronounced rah-zin) and Zena Smith are the top basketball players as juniors at The Gregory School — just down the street from where they were born at the nearby Tucson Medical Center on Grant and Craycroft roads. 

Razin Smith is the top rebounder in Southern Arizona, averaging 10.2 rebounds per game. The 6-5, 215-pound Smith is also leading The Gregory School's boys team in points per game (14.6), assists (4.1) and blocks (1.4).

"He's a great rim protector and a great rebounder, but he can also play out on guys on the perimeter," said The Gregory School head coach Craig Everson.

The Hawks (13-8) have two home games against Sabino on Tuesday and Baboquivari on Wednesday, then the regular-season finale against Bisbee on the road this Friday. The game against Baboquivari will decide the Class 1A South championship. 

Zena Smith is tied for the 10th-best steal average in Arizona with 6.6 per game. Zena Smith is tied with Nogales' Ayleen Munoz for the most steals in Southern Arizona. She is averaging 10.6 points, 6.6 steals, five rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season.

"He's dominating in his region and I'm dominating in mine," she said. "We do little twin battles to see who can have the most points or who can get the most rebounds." 

Razin Smith said his sister is "dominating on defense right now. She's crazy." 

The Gregory School girls team (10-8) will play its final home game of the season against Baboquivari on Wednesday, then round out the regular season with three road games.

Even though the Smith twins don't share the court together, one will always be in the stands as the other's biggest supporter. Sometimes they're there for medical assistance, like when Razin Smith had a hard fall last season after recovering from a significant knee injury, Zena Smith "was the first person on the court," said TGS girls head coach David Polett.

"You're always going to care about your siblings, but to me, that showed a level of caring and compassion she had for her brother," added Polett. "If he went down with an injury, she wanted to be out there with him." 

They're inseparable, even when they can't be teammates. And they wouldn't want it any other way. 

"I love being a twin," said Zena Smith. "I don't have to worry about going to school by myself. He's my go-to person. I tell him everything. If I'm feeling down about a grade or something, he'll look at me and knows that something isn't right. He just always knows."

Razin Smith added: "Growing up with her has been important to who I am today. When we got to elementary, it was hard to make friends, because I was really tall and shy. She would introduce her friends to me, so I was able to mingle with all of her friends. She taught me how to be confident and be a better individual."

They're each other's siblings, best friends, classmates, therapists and support system all wrapped up into one person. The perks of being born with another human. Razin Smith owns the ultimate Uno reverse card for life: he was born 30 seconds ahead of Zena Smith.  

'Fit to be king'

Razin Smith's first name is "Fit to be king" in Hebrew culture.

Smith recoiled at the thought of how many people mispronounce his name.  

"So many people," he said. "Substitute teachers, when they see it, 'Raisin?' The class bursts out laughing. When we're playing in away games, the announcers, when they call out the players, it's always 'raisin.' I got used to it now." 

Smith was introduced to basketball when he was 6 years old, when his parents showed him and his sister Michael Jordan highlights. 

"Later on that day, we were outside in the backyard from like 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., just working on post moves and post fades," Smith said. "I had just watched Michael Jordan and it was my first time touching a basketball, so I thought I could be like Michael Jordan. I was extremely wrong. Grinding to be better, that's when I fell in love with the game of basketball." 

The Smith family made it a family tradition to attend NBA Summer League in Las Vegas every summer for the last dozen-plus years. A mutual trainer connected Smith with former NBA player Lance Stephenson for a workout in Las Vegas — "and I actually got to guard him one-on-one, so it was cool," Smith said. 

When Smith just finished up the seventh grade, he joined the Tucson Summer Pro League, a now kids-only summer basketball league hosted by former Arizona Wildcat Corey Williams at The Gregory School. That summer helped shape Smith's mental approach as a basketball player. 

"I had great memories, but I also had bad memories," he said.

Smith admitted he "had an attitude problem," but the stern coaching of Williams and ex-Wildcat Kelvin Eafon humbled Smith.

"He would tell me, 'You're not as good as you think you are and you need to have a better attitude and be humble,'" Smith recalled. "That summer impacted my life a lot, and it made me a better player and a better person. I never had a coach call out my attitude growing up, because I was always tall and scored a lot, so everything went my way.

"Playing in the Tucson Summer Pro League, I was playing up a little bit and there's guys that are as good as me and I didn't get to be on the team I wanted to be on with my club (basketball) teammates. When I played against my club teammates, we would lose sometimes by 10 or 15 points and my ego would get hurt. When you're a kid, you don't really know how you act on the court. Having someone call me out on it early, it definitely impacted me and made be better as a player. I needed that."

When Smith was about to enter high school, he wanted to go to Tucson High and play basketball on a bigger stage, but his parents urged him to follow the same path as his older brother, Oscar Ramirez, who played basketball at The Gregory School and led the Hawks to a 2019 Class 1A state championship.

"Coming here was the best decision my parents ever made for me," said Smith, who's maintaining a 3.9 GPA. "It's helped me so much. Pretty much every class we're taking is an honors class. Being around so many kids that want to be great in life and go to school to have their own business or be an engineer, it's so cool. Gregory has impacted me a lot, just being around kids like that." 

Smith has been a key factor for The Gregory School's success since his first season two years ago. As a freshman, Smith averaged 14.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Smith's production last season took a dip, but that's largely due to him only playing nine games after suffering a knee injury.

Smith is averaging 13.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in his career. More notably, Smith led The Gregory School to back-to-back state titles. TGS is striving for a three-peat this season. 

"It means a lot to me," Smith said of the state championships. "When I was a freshman, I was always compared to my brother. ... Usually teams in Tucson don't make it that far into the playoffs. It was the most amazing feeling. It's the best feeling I've ever felt." 

Smith clamored to play in last year's state championship against Seligman despite not being fully recovered. Everson inserted Smith in the first half when TGS trailed by nine points. 

"We were up by 11 in the second quarter just before halftime," said Everson. "He had a huge impact on us winning that game, even though he barely played throughout the year. He was key to us winning a state championship."

When Smith first played at TGS, he was mostly used as a center and post player, but his role has expanded into a point-forward player. The Hawks "pretty much run our offense through him as a perimeter player instead of an inside player," said Everson.

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"He handles the ball well, he's a great passer, his outside shooting is coming along," added the TGS coach. "He has built himself into being a college-level guard rather than a high school big man. He has taken such a huge jump in the last month. He's gotten so much more versatile offensively just in the last six weeks.

"He's got good size and strength. He's got a high IQ and talks and communicates well. He plays the game with a lot of passion and a lot of pride. He wants to win so bad and he'll do whatever it takes to win." 

'Warrior princess'

When Smith's parents discovered they were having twins, they were hoping for boys: Razin and Elijah. When Elijah ended up becoming Razin's sister, they pivoted to another name. 

"Zin" was Razin Smith Sr.'s nickname in high school, so they combined Zin and Gena to create Zena, which is Hebrew for "one who's meant to be famous." 

She's living up to her name — and her nickname "Warrior Princess," which is the name of a 1990s television series, "Xena: Warrior Princess."

Zena Smith's passion is writing poetry and literature, and she's a veteran Girl Scout, where she learned how to shoot archery. Her record for most Girl Scout Cookies sold in a year was 300 when she was in the second grade.

Smith has a 3.7 GPA and hopes to major in business and potentially attend law school. Smith is currently one of 13 student ambassadors nationally for "The Chick Mission," a nonprofit and fundraiser to help raise awareness for women who have cancer and want to preserve their eggs, which is a process that can cost $15,000.

"This nonprofit helps women get grants to help preserve their eggs if they want a future in motherhood," said Smith, who's the only student ambassador for The Chick Mission in Arizona. "Outside of sports, I really love to advocate, whether it's student-led advocacy or through government, I love to be a front person and lead."

She also leads on defense at The Gregory School and is the top player in the Hawks' 1-3-1 defense. 

"She was definitely a strong defender last year, but she has really improved on the discipline with how she defends," Polett said. "She moves her feet incredibly well, she stays in front of the ball. The results speaks for themselves."

Playing defense was a trait Smith learned early on in her basketball career. 

"When I was younger, defense was easier," she said. "I try to find to find opponents' weak spots, so it's easier to get the ball." 

Zena Smith has emerged as a vocal leader for The Gregory School and has mentored and helped the 11 freshmen playing for the Hawks this season. 

"The freshmen have gravitated towards her positive energy and enthusiasm for basketball and life," Polett said. "Simultaneously, she's a mentor and leader for the freshman class. They're inspired by how she plays and effort she gives and they appreciate the positive words she gives to them and tries to help them be better."

The Smith twins are collectively looking out for one freshman, their younger brother Savion Smith, who's a reserve guard for the Hawks. 

"Razin is always pushing me in practice and he knows what I can do, so if he sees me slacking off, he's going to get on me," said the younger Smith. 

Zena Smith is envious of her brothers and said, "I wish I was a boy sometimes, so I can be on the court with them. I admire seeing my brothers on the court. It's a proud sister moment, seeing Savion playing." 

The Smith siblings all have a three in their jersey numbers: Razin Smith is No. 13, Zena Smith is No. 3, and Savion Smith is No. 23. 

"Having a tight-knit family made me who I am today," said Razin Smith. "I have friends who don't come from the same background, so it made me understand how blessed I am for my childhood."

Not only are the Smith twins the leaders of TGS basketball, "they're both of the most fun, humorous, vibrant people on our campus," said Polett.

"The energy they each bring to our campus, the classroom, the bus rides, to team meals, any environment they're in is brightened by their presence," added the TGS coach. Great players, but even better human beings.

"It's so great to have the both of them in our community and on the court." 

Fast five with the Razin and Zena

Who is your favorite basketball player or someone you look up to?

Razin: LeBron, Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Those three, I gravitated towards growing up. LeBron is a pass-first, 6-8 point guard and gets his teammates involved. I've always loved that about him. I try to get my teammates involved. I'm definitely influenced by LeBron. With Westbrook, I love his dog-maniac side. He'll get a fastbreak dunk, and the energy goes up.

Kevin Durant, he's one of the most guys in the league right now. He went to a team to win two championships, and he gets a lot of hate for it, but people don't want to give him credit for creating a whole new generation of players. We see so many wanna-be KDs, but they're not Kevin Durant out there. He motivates me to be better. Even when you get hate, you still gotta keep getting better.

Zena: James Harden for boys, because he's left-handed, so I watch him. I also like Caitlin Clark.

What's your favorite basketball sneaker to wear?

Razin: Probably the (Nike) GT Cut 2s. They're bouncy. My favorite shoe of all time has to be the Ja 1s.

Zena: I really like the (Nike) Sabrinas, especially when you can customize it. I love her color way.

What's your go-to pump-up song before a game? 

Razin: Beast Mode by Godzilla X Kong.

Zena: I listen to Michael Jordan ads. It's the craziest thing. 'Look me in the eye' and 'It's gotta be the shoes' (with Spike Lee), and the one where he says he misses 3,000 shots and failure doesn't define you. They're all my main under-three-minute warmup and motivation that gets me locked in.

What is your favorite pregame meal or postgame meal?  

Razin: Pregame, probably a banana and coconut water; that's my favorite snack. I don't like to eat anything heav,y and I like to be light on the court. Postgame, I love Chipotle. I get a chicken bowl with rice, black beans, sour cream, corn and lettuce. Very balanced. 

Zena: Postgame, chicken and rice, like a Chipotle mix — but homemade. 

If you could compete in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament with any two players, who would you choose?

Razin: Give me Kobe (Bryant) and Victor Wembanyama.

Zena: Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird. (Bird is) very dynamic in the paint.