Brothers team up on the court for first time with FGCU

The Konieczny brothers, J.R. and Chase, grew up in Indiana with a shared love for basketball. They spent hours driving to and from practice, only to continue playing one-on-one in their driveway.

"After getting three to four hours of work in, we played another one to two hours of one on one against each other," said Chase. "And I remember a lot of bloody noses. A lot of crying to our parents."

Despite working on their skills together, they rarely played as teammates.

"In high school, I always wanted to play with him but we were four years apart so we never got to play with each other," said Chase.

J.R. added, "We played on a few fall league teams together like leading up to our seasons but never got to play with each other."

This season, however, the brothers finally joined forces on the same team. Older brother J.R. transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) from Notre Dame, and Chase followed.

"When I committed, the coaches reached out to Chase afterwards and he came down. And the day after he came back, he wanted to commit there too," said JR.

Their father has been a constant presence, attending every game.

"I think our dad hasn’t missed a game yet," said Chase. "He’s been coming down for every game. Now I think our family is looking to buy a place down here."

Now teammates for FGCU, the brothers continue to hone their skills together.

"I learned that you can't leave him wide open around the three-point line. He will make you pay for it in practice," said J.R.

J.R. is determined to lead by example.

"I just want to lead by example and you know make him proud and you know push him to be better than me," he said. "He's better than me in high school, so if he's not better than me after this, I don't think I did my job as a big brother."

The Konieczny brothers are not just teammates for the Eagles this season, but teammates for life.

FGCU continues its homestand as they host Queens on Thursday night.