DENVER - Junior Travis Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) and sophomore Chase Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) went home to Texas after summer classes ended in early July.
When asked if they had any fun, both brothers gave the same reply: "All we did was work out and play pickup games."
For five weeks, they woke up and went straight to the gym, where they would lift weights for an hour and follow it up with a run that was "hard enough that there's no doubt we're in shape right now." Needing a little basketball, they would spend the rest of the afternoon playing pickup games at nearby SMU, which has a reputation for being a hot spot on the Dallas basketball scene.
"It was good having a teammate to help push me," Travis said of his brother. "There are always going to be days when you just want to take it easy, but having him there means there's always someone making sure I'm accountable. And I do the same for him."
The Hallams, like most NCAA Division I student-athletes, are highly competitive on their own, but when you add sibling rivalry to the equation both brothers feed off each other.
"Chase is more competitive than I am, so he's always got to try to beat me in whatever we do," Travis said. "If I add more weight, he's got to add more weight. If I pick up the pace on a run, he's going to try to beat me."
Chase was asked about being the more competitive of the two, and his eyebrows shot up. "Travis doesn't like to admit it, but he's just as competitive as me," the younger Hallam said. "We both know that we can make each other better, and that's what we want to help the team."
The brothers consider themselves opposites with the outgoing Chase tending to have several people around him all the time, and Travis often seeking deeper, one-on-one conversations.
However, when they get on the court, each Hallam knows his brother's game almost as well as his own, and both are aware that constant energy is a major key to each of their efforts. Their all-out hustle and toughness has sparked two of the better nicknames on the team, as the always pesky Travis is "The Tick," and Chase is simply "The Machine."
Travis and Chase also share an overriding belief about the future: it's going to be a good year.
When asked if they had any fun, both brothers gave the same reply: "All we did was work out and play pickup games."
For five weeks, they woke up and went straight to the gym, where they would lift weights for an hour and follow it up with a run that was "hard enough that there's no doubt we're in shape right now." Needing a little basketball, they would spend the rest of the afternoon playing pickup games at nearby SMU, which has a reputation for being a hot spot on the Dallas basketball scene.
"It was good having a teammate to help push me," Travis said of his brother. "There are always going to be days when you just want to take it easy, but having him there means there's always someone making sure I'm accountable. And I do the same for him."
The Hallams, like most NCAA Division I student-athletes, are highly competitive on their own, but when you add sibling rivalry to the equation both brothers feed off each other.
"Chase is more competitive than I am, so he's always got to try to beat me in whatever we do," Travis said. "If I add more weight, he's got to add more weight. If I pick up the pace on a run, he's going to try to beat me."
Chase was asked about being the more competitive of the two, and his eyebrows shot up. "Travis doesn't like to admit it, but he's just as competitive as me," the younger Hallam said. "We both know that we can make each other better, and that's what we want to help the team."
The brothers consider themselves opposites with the outgoing Chase tending to have several people around him all the time, and Travis often seeking deeper, one-on-one conversations.
However, when they get on the court, each Hallam knows his brother's game almost as well as his own, and both are aware that constant energy is a major key to each of their efforts. Their all-out hustle and toughness has sparked two of the better nicknames on the team, as the always pesky Travis is "The Tick," and Chase is simply "The Machine."
Travis and Chase also share an overriding belief about the future: it's going to be a good year.
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