Armour: Villanova-UNC ultimate in sibling rivalry for Kris Jenkins, Nate Britt

HOUSTON — The national title isn’t the only thing at stake for Villanova’s Kris Jenkins and North Carolina’s Nate Britt.

It’s the ultimate in family bragging rights.

Jenkins has lived with Britt’s family since they were in middle school, and the juniors consider themselves brothers. Like any siblings, particularly those in a competitive family, they’ve spent years battling about, well, everything. One-on-one games. Who can get to the top of the steps faster. Who can buckle his seat belt first.

Both say the lifelong contest is probably about even right now, but that will change Monday night.

“This right here is permanent bragging rights for the rest of our lives,” Britt said, a gleam in his eyes. “If we ever get into an argument or anything we can look at this game, whoever wins. Like I said, it’s permanent bragging rights, and there’s not a better place to be playing him than here.”

Said Jenkins, “There’s nobody I want to beat more than my brother.”

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Jenkins and Britt were 11 when they became AAU teammates in 2005. Jenkins wound up spending a lot of time at the Britt house because his parents had recently split up and his mother, Felicia, had to be at Johns Hopkins with her infant daughter, who died before her first birthday.

Shortly after, Felicia Jenkins was offered the head basketball coaching job at Benedict College and moved her family to Columbia, S.C. But it didn’t take long for Felicia Jenkins to realize it wasn’t the best environment for her son, and she asked the Britts if they would consider taking Kris in permanently.

The Britts agreed, and became Kris Jenkins’ legal guardians. Already friends from their AAU days, it wasn’t long before Jenkins and Britt thought of themselves as family.

“The best memories have been all of them,” Jenkins said. “Just being there. Them accepting me for who I was, helping me grow as a person and a man. For them to do what they did for me just shows what type of people they are, how high character they are, how much they really love and care about me.

“I’m really blessed and fortunate to have two families. I really do. I really do have two families. I owe them everything. They don’t look at it that way, but that’s how I look at it.”

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Nate Britt Sr. and his wife, Melody, spent last weekend shuttling between Louisville and Philadelphia so they could see both of their sons’ games. They were in the stands for both games Saturday night, and they’ll be there again Monday.

Where they’ll sit and whose jersey they’ll wear, however, they’re not telling.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll sit somewhere as neutral as possible,” the younger Britt said. “Maybe wear plain clothes, maybe where half and half. I tried to ask them and they wouldn’t tell me.”

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Though having their kids play each other in a game as big as this could be excruciating, Britt and Jenkins said their parents are enjoying it. For them, it’s a win-win.

For their sons, not as much.

Accustomed to talking almost every day, Britt and Jenkins said they haven’t spoken since before the Final Four games and they don’t plan to until they see each other on the court. They’re trying to treat this as much like a normal game as possible, even though they know it’s anything but.

“When it’s time to play on that court, no friends, no brothers. Except for my teammates,” Jenkins said. “Then after the game, we can go back to that.”

And while the two joke about the winner being able to lord the result over the loser until they’re old and grey, they know this experience is as unique and special as the family that made it possible.

“The relationship is still the same,” Jenkins said. “Even after the game, win, lose or draw, our family is the ultimate winner.”