Prowess on the hardwood runs in the family for Brown guard Jason Forte, though there are aspects of his brother's basketball career he would like to avoid like the plague.
Both Jason and his older brother Joe found college basketball success, though Joe has struggled for the length of his much disappointing NBA career.
After two explosive years as the shooting guard for the University of North Carolina -- his sophomore year he became the fourth Tar Heel to be named consensus first-team All-American -- Forte has played only 25 games in his two NBA seasons and averaged 1.4 points per game.
He only scored six total points his entire rookie season after being drafted in the first round by the Boston Celtics, and now is not even in the league any more.
While Jason did not turn as many heads in high school as his older brother, he has now become the Forte to watch on the basketball court.
Though Jason is a point guard -- a typically pass-first position -- he is tied for first on the team in scoring with a 13.1 average, which says a lot for a team that has five players averaging just around 10 points per game.
He also leads his team in assists by a large margin.
This is not to imply that Jason played badly in high school -- he was named the Montgomery County Player of the Year and a Washington Post All-Metro player while at the Heights School, and was certainly recruited heavily.
"He was sought after," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Certainly not as sought after as his name sake, Joe Forte, but people liked him and looked at him."
Playing in a high school division that was by no means prepared to handle a player of his skill, Forte exploded, averaging more than 30 points and 10 rebounds per game from the point guard spot.
Forte was also captain of his chess team, which could partially explain his uncanny ability to see the floor and expose defenders.
"He handles the ball very well and knows the game very well," Penn senior guard Charlie Copp said. "He's also an extremely quick player."
Copp will most likely be the primary defender against the junior guard, who will look to use his quickness against the Penn team defense.
The Quakers contained Forte well last season, holding him to just six points in their first matchup and 12 in the next. Forte dished the ball out well in his six-point game, getting 13 assists in the performance.
However, Brown coach Glen Miller said that Forte has added another element to his game other than his court presence and ability to drive the lane -- a jump shot.
Miller said Forte's jump shot has been improving dramatically as the season has progressed.
Dunphy said this will make Forte even harder to defend than he was before.
"We just have to try to keep him in front of us as best we can," he said. "Now he seems to be shooting a jump shot very well and has a great knack for getting in the lane and making plays, so we're going to have to really pay close attention to him."
Dunphy also said that he will put many different players on Forte throughout the game.
"We're going to need a lot of help from other guys this year," he said. "We play a good team defense. ... We will start off with [Copp] on him and do a lot of switching out on the perimeter."
Copp has had practice guarding marquee guards this season, most notably Saint Joseph's guard Jameer Nelson, who is likely to be a high first-round pick in the next NBA draft.
"It's not like those guys are going to score zero points," he said. "He's a handful, so I will just try to make him do things a little harder, and hopefully that will throw him off a little bit."
Despite the effect he has had on his team, Forte does not stick out as an incredibly imposing presence. Like the Brown team as a whole, Forte does not post amazing numbers, but his statistics can be deceiving.
"Their record is deceiving," Dunphy said. "They're playing their best basketball now. ... They're not a 6-9 team. We know we have a great challenge ahead of us and hopefully we will be ready for it."
