Bit late, but good timing enough to showcase my share of rookies from this year for the  furrybasketball world. From left to right, identical slender mongoose twins Danica and Chantal Magnano.

Danica was picked 42nd by the Lorain Firestorm, while Chantal figured in the Top 24 and was picked 10th by the Winnipeg Voyageurs

Art by the amazing  WyldElyn

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DANICA MAGNANO
Forward (SF/PF)
6' 8"
203 lbs.
Right-Handed
Henderson, NV
Van Der Pol University

The younger of the Magnano twins (by fifteen minutes), was set to glamorize the world since day one, at least that’s the answer you’ll get if you ask Sybil and Andrea Magnano, a pair of relatively upscale, well-off workers at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. Certainly, on such a town, the bright lights and cultural melting pot made their toll on the mongooses at their young age.

Both of them were blossoming into strong young women, but it was evident that her sister, while gearing more towards the world of sports, Danica steered more into the habitual likes of girls her age instead: Looking pretty, learning how to use makeup properly, fashion magazines, staying fit, boys, you name it, quickly becoming one of the popular girls at school, as the most knowledgeable of the latest trends and the celebrity world.

The bright side of having a sports-oriented sibling was that it was a perfect match to the “fitness guru” image Danica was attracted to and wanted to cultivate, with the sisters bonding over fitness and physical conditioning at first. But for the mongoose, it was all about to change one day when her sister’s scrimmage team was running a fur short. Danica refused at first, but at her seasoned sister’s insistence, she took the court, and it was gold. It was almost like she came with a precision aim incorporated, as she was a menace in the woods. As her sister got more into the sport on her high school trajectory, the inspiration was planted in Danica’s mind, growing to like basketball as the years came by.

Their vocations seemed to settle when, at age 15, Danica signed up and won Miss Teen Nevada, going ahead to place second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2011. The mongoose’s life was all about the glitz and glamour and, when they were done with high school, Danica opted to enroll at the Van Der Pol University in Boulder City for a degree in Exercise Science with some minors on fashion design on the sideline, as her sister continued her studies and immediately enrolled in the basketball team. At her sister’s insistence, she attended the next round of tryouts, effectively blowing the coach out of the water at her natural ability at the Three Point line, enough for her to get a small role at first, evergrowing as the sisters worked together, making VDP one insistent state rival, with a team chemistry that was nigh impossible to match.

And so the university became the talk of the region, boasting in having a set of identical twin sisters in their roster. While unexpected, the attention certainly tickled Danica’s fancy, opting to stick with her sister on this part of her life and making sure her natural skill didn’t decline a bit, the chemistry between the two working wonders on the court. Chantal planned, Danica followed, but she shooted, she scored, and so, they would yield amazing results

The FBA was a constant dream and goal for her sister, who declared for the FBA draft as the semester started to wrap up, but Danica pondered for some time. While she heavily enjoyed her own bubble of interests, the prospect of being catapulted into continent-wide notoriety was extremely attractive. Adding to the fact most of her teammates and coach agreed she had the skills both on and off court to not only compete, but to stand out, she declared to the draft two weeks after Chantal did, guaranteeing the “Magnanitude” was going full force this year.

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CHANTAL MAGNANO
Forward (PF/SF)
6' 8"
205 lbs.
Right-Handed
Henderson, NV
Van Der Pol University

The older of the Magnano twins (by fifteen minutes), was set to conquer the sports world since day one, at least that’s the answer you’ll get if you ask Sybil and Andrea Magnano, a pair of relatively upscale, well-off workers at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. Certainly, on such a town, the bright lights and cultural melting pot made their toll on the mongooses at their young age.

Chantal was always the more energetic of the two mongooses, not afraid to go out and play with the other kids and show off skills when she could butt heads against other students; evidenced by her extensive early collection of marbles and pogs she won from the boys who dared to bet and challenge “the girl”. One would think this was a factor that would drive the sisters apart, but instead of becoming cliquey, it turned into a gateway for the different interests to blend in, in Chantal’s case, finding out that being one of the “pretty girls” wasn’t too shabby. This has led her to develop a “girl-next-door” reputation, able of being “both a girl and a tomboy”, image she doesn't agree on as, in her own words. “I'm me, hun”.

Their vocations seemed to settle when, in middle school, Chantal found herself playing her first scrimmage in the offtime of P.E class and loved every second of it, turning into asking where to sign up for the eventual high school team and asking her parents for everything basketball related so she could master that craft. It wasn’t long until she was a fixture of all basketball related events in Henderson as well as taking various road trips with friends to California to watch several games. The mongoose was in love with the sport, so it was a no-brainer she’d go straight to the basketball tryouts the first day she enrolled at Van Der Pol University in Boulder City once she opted for a Business Administration degree. Her steely determination to do a little bit of everything cemented her as the “wildcard” player in the team, able to keep up with most of the seniors as time passed. But what rocked VDP’s history was when she convinced her sister Danica to get to the tryout next year to hers, and then it was set: With Chantal’s knowledge and Danica’s raw talent, the relatively small university became the talk of Nevada, creating a team chemistry that went practically unmatched on their tenure.

Chantal’s FBA dream was slowly becoming more and more of a distinct possibility; a longshot thought some years ago now a talk of the town in the local sports sites. While her parents strongly recommended her to finish studies first, the mongoose knew she was in peak condition and this would have been her strongest chance to make it in and make it in big. Just as her team was eliminated in March Madness, she expressed interest to declare for the Draft, to outrageous support, widely believed to be the one with the most potential to make it in in the professional leagues in that class.

And, to add push to her statement, her sister Danica declared to the draft two weeks after she did much to Chantal’s and others’ insistence, guaranteeing the “Magnanitude” was going full force this year. With the state on her side, she stepped into the FBA world, anxious to see what will become of her.