The family tradition began in a small town in Central Oregon, where Dick Hoppes taught his three daughters how to play basketball. Though the family lived on a farm, there was also a hoop attached to the chicken coop where Hoppes, a county judge, spent hours playing with his girls.
Michele Hoppes, the youngest, grew up to be a 6-foot-1 center good enough to play — and later star — at the University of Wyoming, where she graduated in 1987 as the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. It was where she also met her future husband, Mitch Daum, a tight end good enough to play a year in the NFL with the Houston Oilers.