Twin business grads shoot for sports management careers

Triston and Tyler arrived at La Sierra University in July 2023 after earning bachelor’s degrees in business from San Diego State University. During their undergraduate years they played basketball for the Aztecs, an NCAA Division I team that has competed in multiple NCAA Tournaments including a Final Four title game appearance in 2023 when the brothers were on the team. The identical twins, whose father is former NBA player Chris Mills, each stand at 6’4”. They both played guard positions on the Golden Eagles basketball team since their arrival. As award-winning athletes, they carried key roles in the team’s appearance at the California Pacific Conference tournament games earlier this year at UC Merced.

La Sierra University competes under the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) where its athletics programs and student athletes have won numerous awards for team performance, sportsmanship, and academic achievement. The team this year will move into the Great Southwest Athletic Conference. 

The Broughtons’ athletics contract signing in July 2023 was celebrated with a ceremony in Troesh Conference Center.

The twins were recruited by men’s basketball Head Coach Ethan Lowe who discovered them via Twitter, now X, and made a first call to speak with their mother and then the twins. Lowe also arranged for them to meet with John Thomas, dean of the Zapara School of Business, who gave them a personal tour of the campus.

“We just kind of knew it was the right fit from how he [Lowe] approached us, how he approached my family, my mom, what the environment was here, and what the opportunity upheld,” said Tyler in a follow-up interview at the halfway point in their degree program.Triston reflected on the signing ceremony as “the warmest welcoming ever, I loved it. Since the first day, everyone was welcoming from getting to classes, to my classmates. Even though I was with a group of people that kind of went through last year's program, they welcomed us into the team.

”They took us in with open arms that felt like family." -- Tyler Broughton, MBA Sports Management

“I didn't really know what to expect,” said Tyler. “I knew I was coming from a really big university and I knew it was gonna’ be new. And when I got here, and I saw the campus, it's such a beautiful campus. When you drive on, and you see the fountain and stuff like that, [it’s] just really cool. It's an outdoorsy feel. And it's a lot bigger than you think.

“They took us in with open arms that felt like family. I did like how intimate the classrooms [are]. The relationships with the teachers are there. I've thoroughly enjoyed my experience.”

Both brothers came to La Sierra as scholar athletes. At San Diego State, they were known for their commitment to academics as well as basketball in a desire to be prepared for a future when athletics will take a back seat to other areas of life. In the near term, basketball remained a strong focus and interest.

“We’re both scholar athletes really love and want to focus on our studies, but we also have a passion for basketball,” Tyler said. “Making the decision to transfer from San Diego State, I wanted to make sure I was in the right place. Coach Lowe he reached out, showed us the opportunity and introduced us to Dean Thomas. It just all kind of aligned when we made the jump.”

University alumni can be valuable resources for students and new alums, and the Broughton brothers appreciated the opportunity to connect with business school alumnus Brian Wright, general manager of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Wright has spoken frequently at the business school where Wright also earned an MBA. “It gives me the opportunity to pick his brain, to just be a sponge. There's a lot that aligns between us, you know, we both are in sports. We both have an MBA,” Tyler said.

Of Faith and Learning

La Sierra’s identity as a faith-based Seventh-day Adventist school also appealed to the brothers who grew up attending church. They began joining their basketball teammates for Tuesday chapel services at the university church even though such attendance is not required of graduate students.

"I've always kept my faith in God really close and I can see that it's instilled in this campus." -- Tyler Broughton, La Sierra University graduate

“I have always been extremely faithful,” Tyler said. “I was religious when I was young, going to church all the time. And just as I grew up, I kind of stopped. But I've always kept my faith in God really close and I can see that it's instilled in this campus. And I love the values that they teach. It was definitely a factor in our decision as well.”

Heroes

The brothers grew up in Orange County with their mother and attending a school nearby in Riverside made it easier for their mother to attend their games.

Their mother, Tracy Broughton, achieved acclaim as a public speaker, model, entrepreneur, and the winner of Ms. Black California in 2003 and Ms. America in 2011. She is a survivor of two major car accidents in the 1990s, the second resulting in disability – at the time of her sons’ birth she was paralyzed and used a wheelchair. She raised her boys on her own while pushing through years toward recovery when she finally regained the ability to walk with a crutch. Along the way she worked to build awareness for people with disabilities.

During the twins’ signing ceremony as they started their journey at La Sierra she said, “I’m so overwhelmed with appreciation and gratitude. I’ve always taught my boys to have an open mind and just see the blessings in bigger pictures. We’ve always been the underdogs in life and so we’re really excited about creating an opportunity here, not only in business but in basketball and create the vision for more people to chase their dreams and know that anything’s possible.

“They watched me overcome obstacles and adversity,” she continued. “What this means to me is an accumulation of the struggles that we’ve had growing up and the possibilities [will] just keep going to happen.”

The twins describe their mother as their foundational support in life and also the strong connection with each other. At the university, they cited Lowe as a primary supporter as well as their teammates, business school dean Thomas along with professors and school staff who “go head over heels to make sure that we're happy,” Tyler said.

"I appreciate God and all that he does for us." -- Triston Broughton, MBA Sports Management

“It's been my brother, me, and my mom growing up,” Triston said. “So we've been super tight, and my mom, she's my biggest support system. And then to be able to have an identical twin go through every step of life with me, to have that support system, have someone to lean on, talk to, through the hard times, good times, celebrate with, be down with, that it's been a blessing.”

“God is definitely my support system as well,” he continued. “I pray every night and to make sure the people around me are set up for good. I appreciate God and all that he does for us.”

“I would definitely put family number one,” Tyler added. “They've been my biggest supporter forever. My mom and my brother. My mom is my rock, my life," he said. The basketball team as a whole, Coach Lowe, everyone who grinds there with me every single day. They all support me whether they know it or not.

“[Lowe] has been a massive supporter and influential for me. It makes me want to do better. You know, he makes my standard raise and everyone, all the teammates, we all try to help each other. You know, iron sharpens iron.”

Challenges

Perhaps the greatest challenges the twins faced during their two years at La Sierra were those that got in the way of sport they love. Injuries wreaked havoc just before the second basketball season, a year of historic wins and a tournament appearance at Cal Pac. Triston sprained an ankle and suffered broken bones in his right foot just before the season started, while Tyler broke his third metatarsal bone in his right foot – similar injuries three weeks apart.

"That was definitely the biggest mental and physical challenge." -- Tyler Broughton, La Sierra University graduate

The brothers were sidelined for months. “I guess it’s a twin thing,” Tyler joked.

He added, “That was definitely the biggest mental and physical challenge. I've never had an injury like that in all my sports career.”

“You feel like you're not being available on the court and you can't be there for your teammates, not being there for your coach, not being able to help in a way you’re so used to helping every day is definitely a mental barrier,” Tristonsaid.

They got through their season of injury by leaning on their support systems. “And so being able to talk to coach and having him let me know that it's okay, it's not your fault you got injured, it's good to hear that. Having that support system and that relationship with a coach is something that definitely was helpful,” Triston said.

Inventing the future

The brothers have had their sights set on business careers in the athletics industry. Triston has a particular interest in entrepreneurship which formed an emphasis in his undergraduate business degree from San Diego State. “I think that's kind of how you get to financial freedom in life. And so there's some ideas that we have been thinking about that we might want to start up together,” he said.

“It's so easy to be so involved in the now with basketball that I'm kind of delaying my forward thinking into like my future,” he said at the time, but added that the business school’s direct involvement in his and his brother’s academic journeys and plans provided some needed accountability. “[That] is something that you would never get at a big school or somewhere else and so I'm very thankful for that. It's not only me looking for myself. Even when you leave here, when you graduate, they'll still be here to support you."