From the driveway to Division I: The Groves' family basketball factory hits three with Dylynn off to Idaho

For more than two decades, basketball kept Tara and Randy Groves on the road.

The couple logged countless miles driving to games, practices and tournaments for their sons Tanner, Jake and Dylynn.

“We looked at it as family vacations,” Randy said.

But a recent trip to Moscow, Idaho, felt different.

When Tara and Randy dropped off their youngest son, Dylynn, at the University of Idaho in early June, they weren’t just sending another son off to college. They were capping off a parenting journey that saw all three sons go on to play Division I basketball.

“It was just like, ‘ah, successful launch,’ ” Tara said of dropping off Dylynn. “We prepared him and he’s ready.”

It was a moment generations in the making.

Tara is a former Colville High School standout who still holds Whitworth University’s all-time scoring record. She now teaches physical education and sports medicine at Lewis and Clark High School.

Randy, a former Shadle Park High School standout and Community Colleges of Spokane player, serves as dean of students at Spokane Valley High School.

“Basketball is the family business,” Randy said.

For Tanner and Jake, that business meant growing up as teammates.

Both of them starred at Shadle Park before heading off to Eastern Washington University, where they helped the Eagles capture a Big Sky Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. The brothers later reunited at Oklahoma before Tanner graduated, while Jake finished his career at Virginia after transferring.

Long before the packed arenas and NCAA Tournament games, though, there was a driveway. It started with the two older brothers going toe-to-toe in front of the family’s basketball hoop.

“We had a lot of battles in the driveway growing up,” Jake said. “We wanted the best for each other, but we were also super competitive.”

Eventually, those driveway battles included Dylynn, who spent years trying to keep up with his two older brothers.

“I played a lot with Tanner, but the ones I really remember are with Jake,” Dylynn said. “We would play against each other a lot, he beat me a lot, I didn’t beat him very much.”

Randy saw those driveway games differently. They weren’t just sibling competitions. They were opportunities to teach his sons how to compete.

“We had to do a lot of frustration coaching with Dylynn,” Randy said. “His brothers took it easy on him, and they didn’t take it easy on him all at the same time. They enjoyed kicking his butt, but then they’d let him score a bucket.”

Those driveway lessons eventually carried each brother in a different direction.

Tanner has built a professional career overseas, recently wrapping up a 60-game season in Japan, where he averaged 18 points and nearly nine rebounds per game.

The 27-year-old big man has also played professionally in Poland, China, Germany and Australia. He credits international basketball with helping him grow beyond basketball.

“Those guys became some of my best friends overseas,” Tanner said. “Those relationships and bonds you’ll have for the rest of your life.”

Like most offseasons, Tanner returned to Spokane to recover and wait for his next opportunity.

“I rested for a couple weeks, and pretty recently just started training again and lifting and playing basketball,” Tanner said of his offseason. “We’ll probably start playing pickup soon, and doing rehab stuff, and just getting my body right.

Meanwhile, Jake chose to step away from the game after playing in England and the Czech Republic.

He’s now back in Spokane, working as a commercial insurance broker at HUB International.

“I just felt like it was time to be done and get started on something that hopefully I’m going to be doing for a really long time,” Jake said.

Still, leaving the game behind has been an adjustment.

“As much as I didn’t like going to practice every day, just having a time built in where I know I’m going to get a good workout in … that’s something I’m struggling to find now,” Jake said. “The balance has been the biggest adjustment.”

Jake still plays ‘noon hoops’ on Sundays but said he needs a few years before joining a rec league or participating in events like Hoopfest.

With Tanner competing overseas and Jake away from the game, the family’s local basketball story now belongs to Dylynn.

The youngest Groves brother joins an Idaho program coming off its first Big Sky Conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly 40 years. But his path to college looked different than his older brothers’.

Multiple ACL injuries at Gonzaga Prep slowed his recruitment before Idaho head coach Alex Pribble and his staff offered him an opportunity.

“I’m super lucky that they were willing to take a chance on me,” Dylynn said. “All of their assistants were just super kind and willing to bet on me, take a chance on my character and on my game. I appreciate all of them.”

As Dylynn continues to rehab from his last ACL injury, he says the setbacks have reshaped the way he views basketball.

“Spending all that time sitting out watching your team kind of play without you is brutal,” Dylynn said. “It really made me appreciate actually being able to play, and appreciate all the work that goes into it, and ultimately just made me just realize how much I love the game.”

Watching his younger brother navigate an injury-riddled high school career changed Tanner’s perspective as well.

“Dylynn loves basketball the most out of us three, especially after the injuries that he’s been going through and how he’s been able to remain resilient and still love the game the way he does,” Tanner said.

He paused before adding another thought.

“Honestly, he’s taught me more in that aspect than I’ve ever been able to teach him.”

Ask around Spokane, and the Groves name is almost synonymous with basketball.

The family hopes something else comes to mind.

“Honestly, the main thing is just that we’re such a connected family,” Tanner said. “We’re so close, my brothers and I, and my parents too. We’ve gone through a lot of things together, and we’ve stuck together.”

For Tara, that’s the legacy that matters most.

“Obviously they’re my kids, but they’re really good people,” Tara said. “I think a big reason they’ve been successful is their character, their passion and the way they carry themselves. That’s what has allowed them to keep climbing.”

The games haven’t stopped, and neither have the road trips. Years after first shuttling their sons to youth tournaments, Tara and Randy will continue packing the car this winter to watch Dylynn play.

It’s an opportunity Tara said doesn’t take for granted.

“We have been very blessed to get to follow our kids, and Randy and I have tried to stay very grounded in the fact that it’s been a gift for us,” Tara said. “We appreciate our kids, and their willingness and ability to just keep providing opportunities for us to enjoy it. We love it and we’re grateful that we get to experience it.”