Basketball runs in the blood of the Monnig family, and twins Will and Ben and younger brother Hank have helped Augusta Preparatory Day School to a 2-0 start.
Ben is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15 points per game, and he could be the team’s leading dunker, according to Chris Gay, Augusta Prep’s director of communications.
“I don’t know if that’s a stat we keep,” head Coach Sam Gruber said with a laugh.
At any rate, the team has secured two wins early on in the season, and the Monnig brothers believe their ability to communicate well with one another has been helpful in doing so.
“I’ve played with them so much just in the driveway at home that I know what they’re going to do,” Hank said. “If they cut, I know they’re going to cut.”
Ben admitted he was the most competitive of the brothers, and the other Monnigs agreed.
“There’s a part where it gets competitive, but there’s a part where I can get onto them more than anyone else on the team. And I can do that because they are my brothers and they know that,” Ben said.
The elder Monnigs agreed that winning region is their number one priority on the court for their senior season, and going far in the state playoffs is second on the list.
“We have a better chemistry than last year,” Ben said. “And the older kids work together to the encourage the younger kids.”
Will said the team is running a more organized style of basketball, and the increased structure should help them achieve those goals.
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These Monnig brothers aren’t the first Monnigs to play for the team, either. Their eldest brother, Jack Monnig also played for Augusta Prep before moving on to Georgia Tech in 2019.
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The brothers all mentioned their parents’ role in supporting their passion for sports.
“Our mom is definitely our biggest fan,” Will said. “She is so loud at all the games. She’s a team parent, too. She organizes our warmups, our shirts, the food, everything.”
Will said their dad’s side of the family is very into basketball, and their grandfather set a scoring record at his Missouri high school.
Off the basketball court, Will and Ben run track, and Hank runs cross country. Other than sports, Hank said he focuses on his studies and plays multiple instruments. Will mentioned math and science as his focuses in education. Ben said he spends his free time reading.
Will said that in terms of playing basketball in college, he was always going to work backwards and research a school’s academic profile before committing to sports.
“For me, I was looking to play somewhere that I would choose the college first based on their academics. There was really only one that met those standards and where I could play, and that was the University of Chicago.”
However, he said his older brother Jack is trying to sway him toward Georgia Tech, especially with the school’s lauded math and science programs.
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Once the Monnigs left to prepare for practice, Gruber spoke highly of the trio. Gruber said their familial connection helps with team chemistry — the hardest thing to coach — but that the boys are more impressive in another way.
“You can tell these boys are mature beyond their years,” Gruber said. “They’re so focused on their studies, and they have a family that has prepared them well. I would say the Monnigs are Augusta Prep. Being focused on academics and being well-rounded, like with the sports and also the music, that type of thing. The motto of our school is ‘esse quam videri,’ or, ‘to be, rather than to seem.’ That’s them.”
Augusta Prep goes on the road to face John Hancock Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com
