“Follow in Mikayla Blakes’ footsteps,” Diego Pavia mentoring sister Abrielle Through High School Basketball Stardom

Whenever Diego Pavia sits in the stands and watches his sister play basketball, he hopes to see a little bit of himself out there. 

Pavia’s sister Abrielle is a more talented basketball player than he ever was—as evidenced by Pavia’s mid-game shootarounds at Memorial Gymnasium that often leave the crowd with no doubt as to why he chose football—but for her to get to the place that he has in his athletic career, he says she needs to be similar between the ears. 

“I want to let her know that she has to be the most competitive person on the court at all times,” Pavia told Vandy on SI “And that's how she's going to succeed.”

Pavia’s sister is a freshman in high school, but has already experienced what it’s like to succeed. She’s already got a tight handle and can score it at all three levels. She was a significant factor on a high school team as an eigth grader. She made plays that everyone in the gym should've been impressed by. People have noticed, too. 

The younger Pavia already holds offers from New Mexico State and UNLV while her older brother hopes that Vanderbilt is next.

“I hope that she gets to go to Vanderbilt and follow in Mikayla Blakes’ footsteps,” Pavia said. “Hopefully they just offer.” 

Pavia and Blakes have similarly captivated a fanbase that appeared to be looking for a star to lead it, but they’ve done it in different ways. The Vanderbilt quarterback did it by using his flair and confidence to revive a program that was coming off of a 2-10 season while Blakes quietly broke records and elevated a program that had just surged to the NCAA Tournament the previous season. 

To lead his sister to where she wants to go, Pavia recommends taking some aspects of Blakes’ calm, collected demeanor. He also recommends avoiding some of the things that he’s done throughout his meteoric rise from junior college to Vanderbilt. Perhaps she should keep the chip on her shoulder but should take the media training that Pavia appears to have in his second season at Vanderbilt.

“Sometimes I say nutjob stuff I do not want her to say,” Pavia said. “I tell her to learn from what I say, not what I do because we’re going to be in two different situations.”

“But yeah, I want to be a good mentor.”