When brothers Travis and Chase Hallam are on the basketball floor for Denver, their teammates take precedence over family ties.
“It all comes down to the team,” Travis Hallam said. “Coach (Joe) Scott doesn’t take slack. When you do something wrong, you’ll get the brunt of it, whether you’re family or not.”
Chase Hallam doesn’t see his brother on the court but another team member.
“We butt heads on the court,” Chase Hallam said. “Sometimes we disagree on what is going on and how we’re running the offense. But we try to get better each and every day.”
As the Pioneers (10-10, 6-1) head into a key Sun Belt Conference game today against North Texas (16-5, 5-3) at Magness Arena, they’ll need the brothers from Mesquite, Texas, to help lead them.
Chase, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound sophomore forward, leads the Pioneers in scoring (13.0), rebounds (4.3), assists (55) and steals (32). Travis, a 6-5, 220-pound junior guard, ranks third in scoring (8.9) and is second in assists with 54.
Scott didn’t plan on coaching brothers. He recruited each as separate recruits a year apart.
“I thought about what the dynamics would be like because they have their own relationship,” Scott said. “Are they going to do their own thing? They know they can count on each other, but they have made the brother thing easy for me, the coaches and the team.”
Teammate Kyle Lewis thinks the Pioneers are fortunate to have their brother act.
“They challenge each other every day,” Lewis said. “They dedicate their hearts and souls to the team. Their drive motivates all of us.”
The brothers are deceiving in appearance as far as basketball players go. They look more like they should be playing football, perhaps tight end, with tall, rangy builds. They bring a football-type mentality with them, playing with high energy.
“They play extremely hard and they do things that make you win,” Scott said. “At the end of the game, both will have numbers in every single column on the box score. They care about making the team better, not themselves. They’re coachable, and they play for one reason and that’s to win. That’s infectious.”
Scott compares the Hallams with A.J. Kuhle and Jacob Burtschi, two players he coached at the Air Force Academy. Kuhle, a DU assistant coach, and Burtschi were instrumental in helping the Falcons make the NCAA Tournament twice a few years back.
“We’re not the most athletic players,” Chase Hallam said. “(But) we know how to play the game. We found that the system we play here is a system that fits our talents.”
Travis Hallam said he grew up in what he calls an extended family.
“We have what we call six other brothers,” he explained. “They’re guys who didn’t have the best home lives. They all lived with us for a time when we were growing up. We keep in touch and keep track of each other.”
Cory Remekun, one of that band of brothers, now plays for Saint Louis University.
DU’s brothers hope to put college basketball on the map in the heart of Denver.
“We have loyal fans,” Chase Hallam said. “The more we play well, the more people will notice. We’re the underdogs. We haven’t done anything yet.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
