LEXINGTON -- For folks who spend any kind of time with Chavis and Travis Holmes, VMI's set of identical twins, it won't be long before even those with 20-20 eyesight ponder a visit to the optometrist.

Lasik surgery? Duggar Baucom was a viable candidate at one time. The VMI basketball coach claimed it took him two years before he figured out which one was which.

"My assistants [Daniel Willis, Jason Allison and David Jandrew] picked it up a lot quicker," Baucom said. "My secretary [Betsey Nicely] still doesn't know."

It helps when both are in their basketball uniforms. Their jersey numbers don't lie: Chavis is No. 3, Travis is No. 23.

Baucom said his wife, Sherry, was completely baffled by the Holmes' boys when they first started showing up in their cadet uniforms at her VMI academic advisor's office.

"One night, Sherry tells me, 'Duggar, after the first couple of months here, I've finally figured out the twins,'" recalled Baucom, snickering. "I said, 'Really?'

"And she says, 'Yeah, I see them and I just say, 'What's up, Holmes?' And I've got it covered.'"

Double trouble

VMI's opposition only wishes it had the Holmes twins so covered. Since their arrival on post in the fall of 2005, the pair of 6-foot-4, 195-pound junior guards have been twin trouble for those trying to slow down a fast-paced VMI attack spearheaded by Reggie Williams, a 6-6 senior forward whose 28.1-point scoring average led Division I last season.

Think these two aren't authentic copies? Check out their numbers heading into VMI's pivotal league matchup with Winthrop tonight at Cameron Hall. Through 23 games, each is averaging 17.1 points. Incredibly, Chavis has scored 411 points, only one more than Travis.

"Isn't that amazing?" Baucom said.

Of course, Baucom knew all along what kind of goods he was getting in this twin package. He first saw the Holmes play in Charlotte, N.C., his and the twins' hometown, during their junior year for state champion Vance High School in 2002-03. Baucom was in the gym because his son, Travis, played for Vance rival North Mecklenburg High, where he began his coaching career from 1987-1995 as the school's junior varsity and varsity head coach.

Looking ahead, Baucom was instrumental in 2003 when the twins' parents, Ken and Regina, decided they wanted to move their two boys out of public high school. Baucom recommended they transfer to Christ School, a boys boarding school in Asheville, N.C., that excelled in academics and had a great basketball tradition.

After his first two years as a college head coach at Division II Tusculum, Baucom landed the VMI job in April 2005. Only nine days later, he welcomed his first two prospective recruits on a visit to campus. The Holmes had found their new home.

"We're fortunate to have those two," Baucom said. "Last season, Chavis averaged 19 points and Travis averaged [15], and Travis led the country in steals and Chavis was fourth, I guess, so golly. I brought them in my office one day and I pointed at Ramon and Damon Williams [of Roanoke], the third- and fourth-leading all-time scorers here who are both in the school's Hall of Fame.

"It's funny, but I recall kidding their mother at last season's awards banquet that my only regret was 'Regina, you didn't have triplets!' These two are 40 percent of my starting lineup, but I would have taken 60 percent."

Sticking together

The twins will turn 22 in May. Except for the fact that Chavis was born four minutes earlier than Travis, they always have had each other.

"They've always been together and they wanted to play basketball together in college," Ken Holmes said. "I think the fact they were together was how they made it through that first year at VMI. The 'Rat Line' that freshman year was really tough. They thought about quitting several times that year.

"They were in a separate room that year, too, for the first time ever. But I knew they would encourage each other. That's really had a lot to do with in regards to the people they are. If one wanted to get off line a little bit, the other went down for it. And even as kids, they never had to follow, because each had a brother the same age who was right there all the time.

"I'm not bragging, man. They're just great kids, man. They never got in trouble. Thank my wife for that. She's always been a full-blown Christian and so always kept them the way they believe in God first. She's the backbone of the whole family."

The only other female in the family is Kendria Holmes, a starting sophomore point guard on scholarship at Providence.

"The best athlete in the family as far as speed and quickness," Travis said. "She can handle the ball better than either Chavis or I can."

How cool is it being twins?

"Very much so," Chavis said. "Having a twin is always having somebody who has got your back, will work out with you, or will do anything with you. So you don't have to call a best friend over like or nothing because you always have a brother who is always there with you. We look out for each other.

"If we had separated, we probably wouldn't be here. And it has worked out for us. God had a plan for us."