Treysen Eaglestaff’s younger brother Teysean joins UND guard in Summit League – Grand Forks Herald

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

“He congratulated me on the preseason stuff,” Eaglestaff said after being named to the preseason first team along with UND forward Amar Kuljuhovic. “I said, ‘Don’t say that to me unless I actually do it.'”

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

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

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

That injury affected Teysean’s recruitment. What brought him to Kansas City – Teysean announced his commitment on August 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 a current guard for the Orlando Magic.

Larry Suggs, Jalen’s father, and Lance Eaglestaff are good friends, and Larry Suggs got Teysean an opportunity with Kansas City.

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

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

“He’s a 6-foot-1 wing,” he continued. ‘Can shoot. He still has a lot to learn 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 basketball is a job,” Treysen said. ‘That’s the university. It’s really hard, and he immediately has some doubts. I was like, ‘Hey, if you don’t like it, go. You have to love basketball to play it, so just wait and see. You’re good.’ He loves it there. He likes the coaches and I think he’s playing a lot better in practice.”

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

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