Diaz Graham twins’ mom makes herself at home on Pitt campus during holiday visit
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When Elizabeth Graham goes shopping in her favorite Italian grocery story, people know her and stop to say hello.
That wouldn’t be unusual in her hometown of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. But it’s happening not far from the Pitt campus in Oakland where Graham is spending the holidays visiting and cooking meals for her twin sons and Pitt sophomore basketball players, Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham.
“It’s good to have her here,” Guillermo said. “She has been cooking for us. Every day, she has been cooking.”
Her specialty is tenderloin, he said, and the twins and their roommate, junior center Federiko Federiko, might have to check the scale to make sure they haven’t gained too much weight over the break that ended Tuesday.
Do they ever treat Mom to night out at a nearby restaurant? “Sometimes,” Guillermo said, smiling.
Of course, some moms don’t consider cooking for their sons a chore, but Graham does enjoy one perk — courtside seats on game day at Petersen Events Center.
“People here have been super good to her. It’s like her second house,” Guillermo said.
The twins and their mom toured Pittsburgh while players were excused from practice over the Christmas weekend, making Guillermo, who’s lived here less than two years, the tour guide.
After a recent game, Graham was awestruck when fans walked up to her sons and asked for autographs.
“She pulled out her camera and started recording,” Guillermo said.
Meanwhile, Graham has been in town when the 7-foot Guillermo moved into Pitt’s starting lineup. In his past two starts, he has scored 20 points, with 16 rebounds and six blocks in 54 minutes, bumping up his average to 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
An even bigger challenge looms for the Diaz Graham twins and their teammates Saturday when Pitt (9-3, 0-1) travels to Syracuse for its second ACC game. One of their targets will be center Naheem McLeod (7-4, 265 pounds), who transferred from Florida State.
McLeod has started all 12 games for the Orange while averaging 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Guillermo will share the post with Federiko while Jorge Diaz Graham will try to duplicate his performance from the Syracuse game last season in the JMA Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome. He scored nine points with five rebounds in 18 minutes, helping Pitt win 84-82 after the Panthers led 62-44 with 13 minutes, 13 seconds left in the game.
“It was a tight game at the end. I feel like that was one of the wins that really (brought) us together,” Guillermo said. “It was a fight at the end. My brother was even crying from all the pressure. That was one of the beautiful wins of the year.”
The twins enter the meat of ACC competition — Pitt lost its first conference game to Clemson, 79-70, on Dec. 3 — with a better of idea of what to expect than what they had as freshman last season.
Guillermo Diaz Graham, on last year’s victory against Syracuse. pic.twitter.com/AOx142IL34
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) December 28, 2023
“Not only understanding who they are, but how to attack them,” Guillermo said of ACC opponents.
“I learned that the ACC is dangerous. Every team in the ACC can beat you. Every team has a different style: people who do zone, people who are more aggressive. Every team is a different team, and every team is really good. Anyone can beat anyone. You have to be 100% prepared to win.”
The game will offer intrigue on two other levels.
It will be Pitt’s first game against Syracuse (9-3, 0-1) in 47 years without Jim Boeheim stalking the sideline. Boeheim retired and was replaced by Adrian Autry, a former Syracuse point guard.
It also will match against each other two of the ACC’s best young guards, sophomore Judah Mintz of Syracuse and freshman Bub Carrington of Pitt.
“Good player, aggressive guard,” senior forward Blake Hinson said of Mintz, who is fourth in the ACC in scoring (19.7 points per game).
“There are a lot of things I can say about Judah, but, at the end of the day, I think his role has increased, obviously. He’s going to be a challenge to keep control of, but, when we play our best, I think we should be able to get him under control.”
Hinson declined to compare the two guards, calling them “extremely talented players.”
“I don’t know what Bub’s jump is going to be (after his freshman season). I would love to think that Bub’s jump is going to be far better than Judah’s.”
With Boeheim gone, Syracuse will play less zone, and the Orange also must learn to carry on without veteran guard Joe Girard, who transferred to Clemson.
“That’s pretty much all I see,” Hinson said, “still a competitive team.”