The same shot, the same shenanigans, even the same smile as Cylk Cozart and Nikki Estridge aim for the hoop on Powell High School's basketball court.
As the saying goes, “Like father, like daughter.”
It's hard to believe Cylk Cozart and Nikki Estridge have only known each other for eight months.
“It’s such a complex story,” said Estridge reluctantly.
For Nikki Estridge, it begins in Powell where she grew up.
“I do have a stepfather and my mother had shared with me that was my real father growing up,” she explained. "So, in my mind it was my mother and father and brother and sister.”
She describes it as a typical childhood. Nikki loved sports and the spotlight.
“In elementary school I’d always put on plays for my friends and I was always the person with the mic. I wanted to be an actor," she said.
Meanwhile, Karns native Cylk Cozart was living out that same dream. Basketball player turned actor, Cozart was co-staring with Hollywood’s A-listers in movies from "Conspiracy Theory" to "White Man Can’t Jump."
“I was obsessed with 'White Man Can’t Jump,'” admitted Estridge.
But she had no idea one of the actors was from East Tennessee.
While Cozart showcased his athleticism on the big screen, Estridge found her own success running basketball screens and landing a softball scholarship to the University of Tennessee.
“It was a huge honor just to put on the Lady Vol jersey,” said Estridge.
She graduated, pursued sales, married, became a mom and revisited acting, eventually earning roles on the small screen.
“'Law and Order,' I did a couple of episodes for them and I did 'House of Cards' season 5,” said Estridge. “That was a lot of fun.”
But she couldn’t shake a nagging reality.
“I just looked differently even from my siblings and my mother and now stepfather," she said. "And I just knew something was off.”
So, Estridge turned to a DNA kit and admits the results were a little surprising.
“Uh, 32% African American … that’s interesting," she recalled.
Years of research led her to Cylk Cozart. She found his information and image online.
“I get to his picture and I’m like, I saw my face," Estridge said.
She found his number and finally left a voicemail.
“It was kind of in and out,” Cozart said about the message.
He listened again and heard the voicemail clearly.
“She said, ‘You’d be very proud of me as your daughter.’ And, I’m thinking, how could that be? How could that be,” he remembered. “All I could think about is I have a daughter!”
Cozart called Estridge back and told her the voicemail completely shocked him.
“I said, sweetheart, I had no idea!” he remembered.
And the news just got better. Estridge told Cozart she was married and a mother.
“You’ve got two boys,” Cozart asked. “I’m a granddaddy now?”
They met two weeks later.
“And he just gave me this bear hug and he didn’t feel like a stranger,” Estridge said. “He felt like my dad.”
The two have been inseparable every since.
“A lot of the puzzle pieces are fitting together now,” Estridge said. “Genetics it plays a role in shaping who we are without us realizing it.”
Neither one is angry or focused on the past.
“I’ve forgiven everybody. I’m very happy about this discovery," Estridge said.
A father and daughter simply making up for lost time.