{"id":52657,"date":"2011-12-21T08:12:14","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T13:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=52657"},"modified":"2011-12-23T09:42:52","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T14:42:52","slug":"olander-brothers-move-game-from-family-driveway-to-xl-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/12\/olander-brothers-move-game-from-family-driveway-to-xl-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Olander Brothers Move Game from Family Driveway to XL Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Huskies' Tyler Olander '14 (CLAS) takes a shot. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like most brothers growing up, Tyler Olander \u201914 (CLAS) and his big brother Ryan had a competitive sibling rivalry when playing sports, often playing with or against each other in baseball, hockey, and football. But the rivalry was especially intense playing on the basketball court in the driveway of their Mansfield, Conn. home, a natural outlet for the two tall youngsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played a lot of one-on-one when we were younger,\u201d says Tyler, now the 6-9 sophomore forward for the Huskies\u2019 men\u2019s basketball team. \u201cBut those games didn\u2019t last long because we were both really competitive. I love to win and he couldn\u2019t let his little brother win. If he got up, I would start to fight. If I got up, he would start to fight. That\u2019s how the game would end. My dad would come running out of the house to break it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

With three NCAA officials on the floor of the XL Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, there will not be any such disagreements when Tyler and Ryan, now a 7-foot center in his senior year for the Stags of Fairfield University, meet for the first time wearing different uniforms as key members of their respective teams. While they may play different positions, both expect there will be times they will face off against each other during the game.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Olander plays for Fairfield University. The brothers will face each other at the XL Center on Dec. 22. (Fairfield University Athletics Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The brothers say their busy academic and athletic schedules have not provided time for them to think much about the game or even discuss it during their regular phone or text message chats.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs cool as it is to be playing against my brother, it\u2019s more important that we win and play hard,\u201d says Tyler. \u201cI can\u2019t really be thinking about that, but it\u2019s going to be really weird seeing him on the floor and guarding him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be strange,\u201d adds Ryan. \u201cI\u2019m going to try and treat him like another player, as hard as that\u2019s going to be, and after the game we can be brothers again. But for those 40 minutes, I\u2019m going to have to treat him as an opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies will take the floor with a 9-1 record, and the Stags arrive with a 7-4 mark under first-year coach Sydney Johnson, the former Princeton coach. Tyler averages playing 26.2 minutes per game, scoring 7.5 points, and is the Huskies\u2019 leading rebounder, with 6.4 per game. He has also 19 assists, the most for UConn\u2019s big men, and 10 blocks. Ryan plays 28.4 minutes per game and is the Stags\u2019 second leading scorer, averaging 11.9 points and 4. 1 rebounds. He also has 20 blocks on the season. He was a Second Team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection last season.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a>
Now in his sophomore year, Tyler Olander is a greatly improved player, according to Coach Calhoun. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTyler’s improving and he continues to improve,” says Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. “He\u2019s strong, he\u2019s smart, and has a great feeling for the game. He is probably 100 percent improved over last year. If he does that over the next couple of years, he\u2019ll be a heck of a player. I trust him with the ball, I trust his passing ability. He has one or two assists a game. I just think he needs to believe in Tyler. That\u2019s the biggest thing right now. To me, he\u2019s [going to be] a major league player, once he really believes he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adds associate head coach George Blaney: \u201cWhen you have a guy who understands the game and is easy to play with, guys like to play with him because he knows how to get open, how to pass, and he knows the plays really well. He does all the things a good basketball player does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan witnessed his younger brother\u2019s diligence in working to prepare for his sophomore season after Tyler played an increasing role during of the Huskies\u2019 run last year to a third NCAA Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked very hard this summer,\u201d says Ryan. \u201cHe really dedicated himself to getting stronger and getting in better shape, focusing on his game. He\u2019s playing at a very high level and it\u2019s a testament to his hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Olander is in his senior year at Fairfield University. (Fairfield University Athletics Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their one-on-one games as youngsters, Ryan was taller and stronger than Tyler, which meant that the younger brother had to work at developing other skills to compensate for his lack of size.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe couldn\u2019t outmuscle me all the time or go over me because I was bigger,\u201d says Ryan, who plays as a post with his back to the basket. \u201cThat\u2019s where he developed his skills set to become a face-up player. He expanded his game and I definitely see that helping him today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Olander family is embracing the unique opportunity to see the brothers \u2013 who played as teammates in the gymnasium at E.O. Smith High, adjacent to the UConn campus in Storrs \u2013 play in a Division I NCAA game. Their father, Skip, says about 30 relatives, including his wife Tracy and daughter Morgan, currently a basketball player at E.O. Smith, will be seated together at the XL Center for Thursday\u2019s game. They will be wearing a special shirt with \u201cFairConn\u201d on the front, each son\u2019s number on a different sleeve, and an inscription on the back that reads: \u201cOlander \u2013 Either Way We Win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just hope that each of them does well,\u201d says Skip Olander. \u201cWe\u2019re not bigger than the game. The game is the most important thing. I think it will be fun. We\u2019ve gotten a ton of calls because people are just interested in it. I think it\u2019s good for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler says he is looking forward to creating some unique family history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess playing against each other is something you don\u2019t think about, because we\u2019ve always played together,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ll never forget. It will be real memorable for my whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Huskies\u2019 Tyler Olander faces off against his big brother, when UConn meets Fairfield on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":52648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-52657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 17:38:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52657"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52871,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52657\/revisions\/52871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/52648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52657"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=52657"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=52657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}