University of Pittsburgh Athletics
11/3/2026 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The first team Taryn and Taylor Barbot ever played on had no other girls on it.
There was no girls' team for kids that young in Rosedale, New York, so the twins trained and played weekend games with the boys at St. Clare's.
Taryn wasn't a star of those teams, and she says so cheerfully. She mostly remembers loving the training and the games on the weekends. Taylor's first memory is even simpler, a park, a ball and their dad before any of it was organized.
The details differ, but the constant doesn't.
Neither twin can remember a team that didn't include the other, outside of pickup games and the occasional practice split. Even then, coaches often kept them apart on purpose. Taryn has a theory about why.
"We guard each other our whole life," she said. "We play one-on-one in the backyard, and some of our one-on-one time, my mom had to intervene."
Two Games That Fit
Ask the twins what makes them work on the court and the answers sound alike.
Taylor says they know where the other will be without looking, a chemistry she describes as being on a different level from what she has with anyone else. Taryn says Taylor knows exactly where to put the ball for a layup or a shot, because she's been playing with her longer than anyone.
The roles were never a fight.
Taylor has always been the point guard, a player who led the CAA in assists per game. Taryn has always been the scorer, a two-time CAA Player of the Year and Charleston's all-time leading scorer.
"Taylor's always been more of a pass-first point guard," she said. "She's gonna dish it out to people more than look for her own shot first."
Off the court, Taryn has learned to read her sister in ways teammates sometimes can't. Taylor has a calm face that can pass for annoyance or sadness when she's feeling neither, and Taryn has spent years explaining that to teammates.
She hasn't had to on this team yet.
They compete in different ways too. Taylor sees her sister as the more competitive one in sports and herself as the one who competes in other areas, like school.
Taryn gave her own answer.
"I think I put a lot more pressure on myself," Taryn said. " I want to be the best I can be. I feel like I could be better than what I am, so I just like want to prove everyone, prove everyone wrong."
Not a Package Deal
When Robin Harmony told them she was leaving Charleston for Pitt, neither twin saw it coming. Taylor expected the news to be that Harmony was retiring. Taryn figured her coach would stay put.
"I didn't think that she would be leaving Charleston," Taryn said. "But that's closer to home for her. Other than that I didn't know anything about Pitt."
The decision to come together wasn't built on staying together at all.
Taylor has medical school in her future, and Taryn wants to play basketball for as long as she can. Taryn admitted she hadn't known Pitt had a strong medical school, and she was ready to support Taylor going elsewhere if another school fit her sister better.
They landed in the same place because it fit them both, with a coaching staff and a system they already trusted.
"We weren't necessarily a package deal," Taylor said. "It just worked out for the both of us together."
Harmony had spent three years earning the family's trust, and other programs were offering real money to pull the twins away.
"It was a celebration night when we got them," Harmony said.
Coaches on the Floor
For Harmony, the payoff shows up at practice. The Barbots and Jamisen Hill, all Charleston transfers, already know her system, and they've become teachers for a roster full of newcomers.
"They saved me from a lot of gray hairs because they already know our system," Harmony said. "They know our press, they know the rotations. They are coaches on the floor helping the other players learn it."
Taryn says the three of them share a close bond, and that it helps the whole team.
They know each other's strengths and weaknesses, they can talk through mistakes on the court and tell teammates where to be. She thinks it lands differently coming from a player than from a coach.
Each twin sees the other's impact.
Taylor credits Taryn with explaining to teammates where to go on both ends of the floor, and with leading by example, as a skill leader.
Taryn points to Taylor's habit of getting shooters the ball and then telling them to keep shooting, since one make and one miss is fine. Taylor says teammates have also started to copy the way she passes.
Starting over in a new conference, with a new city and a new team, hasn't been simple, and Taylor admits it's a lot. But having her sister around, even at home, has made it easier.
Their favorite memories so far have been shared ones. Taylor's include state championships in high school and last year's trip to March Madness. Taryn's is the CAA title, the first in school history, which sent Charleston to its first NCAA Tournament.
For all the change ahead, the twins have been in this position before. Taryn said it plainly when they realized they'd be doing it together again.
"We've done this our whole lives."
