One diverse SIU student is balancing his time between the basketball court and his ROTC responsibilities.

Senior Colby Long, a Cadet Operations Sergeant Major at the SIU ROTC, maintains his schoolwork, training, and social life all while wearing a Saluki basketball jersey.

Long was born in Decatur and grew up in Mt. Zion with his mother, father, two older sisters and twin brother Caleb. His father is a retired engineer for AT&T while his mother works as a medical transcriptionist.

“(I spent my) whole life in the same house and everything,” Long said.

Growing up with a twin brother gave Long the added benefit of always having someone there to play with as a kid, he said.

“My mom said when we were newborns they had a bracelet they would put on my older brother, and after a while my mom started painting my brothers toenails so she could tell the difference because we look exactly the same,” he said.

Caleb is one minute older than Colby, and they used to do everything together as kids. They like the same sports, same activities and had the same friends, and only family members and friends could tell them apart.

Colby played his first year of college basketball in his hometown at Millikin University, a Division III school, where he played a semester then decided to leave. He chose to come to SIU because of the family support he had at the university, where Caleb was playing basketball as a preferred walk on.

Caleb then left basketball his sophomore year to join the ROTC.

“At the time, the ROTC gave me a better opportunity. I applied for a scholarship and got it, and it covered my tuition,” Caleb, who is now a Second Lieutenant Military Police Officer stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., said.

Colby walked onto the basketball team just last year after he skipped tryouts. His brother told Associate Head Coach Tom Hankins about him, had a private practice, and from then on has been a part of the team.

Colby followed in his brother’s footsteps and joined the ROTC his junior year.

“It would be my sophomore year, but really my junior year in college because I had to fill requirements for the ROTC,” Colby said.

ROTC meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for intense 6 a.m. workouts. Colby used to have a class at 8 a.m. and would have one hour to shower, eat breakfast and get ready for his class, Senior Military Instructor Sgt. Tom Arnett said.

“I don’t know how he sleeps or when he sleeps,” Arnett said.

Tuesday ROTC classes focus on tactics, while Thursdays consist of training labs, where students perform hands on exercises, Colby said.

Colby said he really has not attended many Thursday labs because basketball practice is at the same time.

“But once I’m not in basketball it is 6 a.m., five days a week,” Colby said.

Balancing his schedule was difficult at first, Colby said, but it has become smoother. He said managing a schedule is simple—go to all appointments, meetings and practices, then homework and social life will fall into place.

Undergraduate Student Assistant coach Josh Swan said Long is one of the most mature, calm and collected players on the team.

“If he is stressed, he does a good job not bringing it to practice,” Swan said.

Colby said the ROTC has taught him leadership qualities, organizing, planning, and time management; where basketball has taught work ethics to be successful, and long practices and lifting weights make you mentally strong.

In order to become an officer, a cadet must take 20 hours each semester and can have double the average college student’s workload, Arnett said.

The university’s ROTC program also competes in a national competition of more than 6,000 cadets from seven brigades. The top 20 percent of cadets are recognized as a Distinguished Military Graduates— 33 percent of the university’s commissioned officers have received the honor.

“The competition is at Fort Lewis Washington for a grueling 31 days of national competition,” Arnett said.

Part of the competition consists of the Army Physical Fitness Test, which is tested out of 300 points. Caleb just received a 294 on the test, Arnett said.

“The genes run very well in that family,” said Arnett.

Colby and Caleb’s dad Tom Long takes joy in saying the twins are more like him but have gained some qualities from both his wife and him.

“They’re both soft-hearted guys and got that from their mom,” Tom said.

Colby is majoring in Sports Administration and minoring in military science. He hopes to be a High School Athletic Director after serving four years in the Army.

“He’s just an all-around good American kid,” Arnett said.