Brothers from different mothers square off for NCAA championship

The Final Four produces all kinds of oddities for players and coaches. For instance, Seton Hall’s Derrick Gordon became the first player to suit up for three different teams at the NCAA Tournament, previously appearing with Western Kentucky and Massachusetts.

Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith joined Final Four entrant Lon Kruger of Oklahoma as the only coaches to lead five different teams to the tournament.

Monday’s NCAA Tournament championship game between North Carolina and Villanova produces another quirky rarity: Brothers from different mothers face off, and only one will clip the nets.

Villanova’s Kris Jenkins will do all he can to defeat North Carolina, and the Tar Heels’ Nate Britt Jr. has the same mission. But every other moment except the two hours of direct competition, they’re brothers.

“That’s probably never happened before,” Britt said.

Not quite like this, and Jenkins knew the questions would be hurled his way on Sunday.

“I wonder what this will be about?” he said under his breath as he was greeted by a collection of cameras and tape recorders.

It’s about this: In 2007, the Britts became the legal guardians of Jenkins.

The families met in 2004 at an AAU Tournament when the boys were 10, and the next summer, Jenkins joined Britt’s Washington, D.C.-based AAU team. By then, Jenkins’ parents had separated and his mother, Felicia, lived in South Carolina, where she had become head coach of a Division II program.

The Jenkins’ faced travel issues for work, and Felicia believed her son would thrive in a more stable environment. She had noticed the disciplined nature of Britt’s team, coached by his father, Nate, a former police officer. The Britts accepted Jenkins into their family.

“Ever since then it’s been the greatest decision that’s ever happened in my life,” Jenkins said. “For us to compete against each other is something special for our family.”

Or families.

Although Jenkins remains part of the Britt family, he has always remained in constant contact with his parents, especially his biological mother.

“I talk to my mom almost every day,” Jenkins said.

The person on Jenkins’ no-call or message list at the moment is Britt, not after the teams won their semifinal games, with Villanova routing Oklahoma and North Carolina running past Syracuse.

Jenkins is 6-6 forward whose scoring has increased during the postseason. He has averaged 15.8 points in the NCAA Tournament and is shooting 48.4 percent on three-pointers. If there’s a signature moment, it was his 35-footer as the shot clock expired late in the first half of the Sweet 16 victory over Miami, Fla.

Britt, a 6-1 guard, comes off the bench for the Tar Heels and averages 5.5 points. They haven’t spent much time together since their college careers began, but Britt couldn’t imagine a closer relationship than when the pair was in high school.

“We pretty much shared everything but a toothbrush,” Britt said.

Now?

“We’re getting ready to play each other,” Jenkins said. “He wants to beat me as bad as I want to beat him.”

That’s been true since they’ve known each other. Jenkins said he and Britt completed in everything, from one-on-one basketball to running up the steps. Asked who wins most of the battles, Jenkins was diplomatic and called it a draw.

“I think this one right here will be the tie breaker,” Jenkins said.

But before and after the game, they remain close. After Villanova defeated Kansas on March 26 in Louisville, Ky., for the South Region title, Jenkins made his way to Philadelphia the next day and sat behind North Carolina’s bench to watch the Tar Heels defeat Notre Dame for the East Region title.

Jenkins and Britt shared a selfie and a hope to meet each other for the national championship.

“We’re a family, we’re brothers,” he wanted to be there to support me.”

Jenkins and Britt haven’t seen much of each other since heading off to college, but they shared an earlier North Carolina-Villanova moment.

It occurred before either had enrolled, but after they had signed. The Tar Heels and Wildcats met in an NCAA Tournament first-round game in Kansas City. The Britts and Jenkins watched it together.

“We didn’t say much,” Jenkins said.

They will be plenty of time to talk and return to the business of being brothers after the game.

This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Brothers from different mothers square off for NCAA championship."