Cade and Keaton Norris, both regularly starting guards for Samford’s Men’s Basketball team, were playing together long before they both transferred to Samford at the beginning of the 25-26 season. The brothers both transferred to join Coach Lennie Acuff, with Cade coming from one season at Illinois State, and Keaton from four seasons at Wright State.
Cade and Keaton began playing together probably about the time they both could walk. The brothers’ parents, Brett and Carrie Norris, played collegiate basketball. Their grandfather was also a head coach.
“Basketball, sport, competition has been a huge part of our lives, but also our family’s lives,” Brett said.
They really began to hone their abilities in high school, where Brett was their head coach. Brett has been coaching for 31 years, head coach for 26 of those, and currently is in his 13th straight season of coaching at least one of his four sons. Cade and Keaton played together for one year in high school.
“It’s been a thrill of a lifetime to get a chance to coach them,” Brett said.
Cade and Keaton Norris also have an older brother, Braden Norris, who went on to play in multiple NCAA tournaments with Loyola University.
“Our older brother played a huge role in where we’re at today. He’s the one who showed us the way through it all.” Keaton said.
The decision to play together at Samford came together quickly. Keaton entered the portal and committed to Acuff while he was still at Lipscomb. Cade remembered Acuff from being recruited in high school and decided to join his brother.
Carrie, their mother, attends nearly every game. Since Brett is still coaching high school, he usually watches from home but never misses a game. The entire family, including their two other brothers, were all able to come to the home game against East Tennessee State University on Jan. 17. Both brothers remarked how special it was that they were all able to be together.
“We still have this moment though where you sort of pinch yourself that they’re playing together, living together and it’s such a unique experience for them, but for their mom and I, it’s been really incredible,” Brett said.
Watching his sons play collegiately gives Brett a new perspective to watch the game, after coaching them for so many years.
“When they’ve gone off to college, it’s like my first experience to sort of just be another parent. … Honestly, I try my best to be just a father and a fan of theirs.”
As one can imagine, playing on a team with family can deepen intuition in the game.
“On the court, it’s been pretty seamless. You almost don’t notice it because you’re used to playing together and we kind of think alike. So, it was almost seamless and it didn’t really take anything to kind of get used to it,” Cade said.
Both brothers emphasized the role of family in their basketball journey, from the dedication of their father, the sacrifices of their mother and the direction of their older brother.
“Obviously it’s a dream come true. … We never thought that we would have a chance to play together at this level. So, like I said, it’s special,” Keaton said. “But I think that once we get older and once we get away from the game a little bit, we’ll realize how special it really was, even more.”
(Photo courtesy of Brett Norris)
News Editor
