David Peavy admits he’ll be a nervous wreck in a week’s time.
The head coach at Duncanville High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Peavy won’t hold back a smile as he walks the steps of Schollmeier Arena in Fort Worth.
With close to 40 players, friends and family in tow, David will take a seat and watch his two sons face off in Monday’s TCU-Austin Peay game.
“It’s all we know. We’ve been doing this since they were born,” he said.
“How many parents can say that they’ve had multiple children that get to play college basketball but then get an opportunity to play against each other?”
Born to ball
As fans file in for Monday’s game, those in attendance for either Peavy brother will be easy to spot; DJ and Micah’s sister, Teanna, has made half-red, half-purple shirts so the family can support both teams.
David — a 25-year coaching veteran who was named National Coach of the Year by MaxPreps last season — led all three of his kids to play basketball at the collegiate level.
He said that opportunities like Monday’s further prove that basketball was what his family was designed to do.
“He’s why I started playing in the first place,” DJ said. “He gets a lot of credit for all of this. He’s why I’m still playing because he’s been there for me through it all.”
Micah, the younger of the two brothers, was ranked a top-35 recruit nationally in 2019 by ESPN. Texas Hoops listed him as the second-best high school player in the state as a senior.
“Ever since I could walk I’ve had a ball in my hand,” Micah said. “My brother as well. We just went with it and we’ve made it this far.”
Patient victories
DJ and Micah’s journey to this point is one that includes injuries, diagnoses and transfers to five different universities.
Early on, it was DJ who was viewed by his father as being a future pro. But an enlarged heart in high school and a car accident his freshman year at Mercer changed his direction.
Since then, he’s played at Collin College (NJCAA) and is in his second year with APSU.
“I kind of attribute that time to finding myself, in a way,” DJ said. “I definitely had to change how I viewed life.
“Through it all I just feel like I learned a lot and just continued to persevere. That’s why I’m still playing right now.”
Outside of a growth spurt that brought him to 6’7″, Micah said it was DJ’s opportunities as a freshman that helped him blossom into one of 2019’s top high school players.
After sharing the same breath as NBA guards Cade Cunningham and RJ Hampton, Micah joined Texas Tech before transferring to Jamie Dixon’s program at TCU.
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been around,” Micah said of his brother. “He still is. I’ve watched him ever since I was little. I wanted to be a kid when I was younger, and my brother never did.”
Playing for Peavy
The two schools anticipated playing one another last season, but a scheduling conflict pushed it back a year. The 29th will mark the first time DJ and Micah ever face each other in a live game.
They’ll always have their battles in the gym throughout the summer, but there’s something different about it being in the course of a team’s season.
“We’ve been competing against each other since we were little,” DJ said. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun, honestly. Hopefully it won’t get too personal like it is back at home, but it should be fun. I’m excited for it.”
Both brothers said a win is what matters most to them on Monday, though Micah said he hopes to find DJ underneath one of his signature dunks.
The result won’t matter to David. He’ll shout and smile as two of the best players he’s coached go at it for the first time.
“I’m not going to be rooting for TCU that night,” David said. “I’m going to be rooting for Peavys.”
