GRAND FORKS – When the Summit League men’s basketball preseason all-conference selections were revealed on Oct. 8, UND junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff received a text message from his younger brother, Teysean.

“He congratulated me on the preseason work,” Eaglestaff said after being named to the preseason first team along with UND forward Amar Kuljuhovic. “I told him, ‘Don’t tell me that unless I really do it.’”

But Eaglestaff could also have congratulated his younger brother. Teysean Eaglestaff is a freshman at Kansas City who was named the preseason No. 1 team after receiving 17 first-place votes.

UND was picked to finish sixth and received a first-place vote.

The younger Eaglestaff spent his last two years at Bismarck High, where Treysen Eaglestaff graduated. Teysean transferred there from Eagle Butte, SD. At Bismarck, Teysean played as a junior but missed time with an injury to his senior.

That injury affected Teysean’s recruitment. What brought him to Kansas City (Teysean announced their engagement on Aug. 11) was a family connection.

The Eaglestaffs’ father, Lance, coaches for JSizzle AAU, a team sponsored by Jalen Suggs, a former standout at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis and current point guard for the Orlando Magic.

Larry Suggs, Jalen’s father, and Lance Eaglestaff are close friends, and Larry Suggs gave Teysean a chance in Kansas City.

“Proud of him,” Treysen Eaglestaff said. “He’s my brother.”

Contributed / Treysen Eaglestaff

Treysen began to explain that his younger brother was a better basketball player than him as a kid before hesitating: “At the same age in high school, he seemed to be a lot better than me in high school,” Treysen said.

“He’s a 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8 wing,” he continued. “He can shoot. “He has a lot to learn in terms of maturity, mentally, but he is still good.”

Most of the brothers’ conversations revolve around the transition from high school to Division I college basketball.

“He realized that basketball is a job,” Treysen said. “That’s college. It’s really difficult and you’re immediately hesitant a little. I was like, ‘Hey, if you don’t love it, leave.’ You have to love basketball to play it, so wait. Are you OK.’ He loves being there. He likes the coaches and I think he is playing much better in training too.”

UND’s first matchup against Kansas City is Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, in the Fighting Hawks’ third week of Summit League play.

“I love the kid,” Treysen Eaglestaff said, “so I’m excited to see him and play against Kansas City.”