LOUISVILLE

“Anytime talking about it is definitely challenging, but I don’t mind sharing his story, sharing how far he has come as a person, as a man,” Durr said on Thursday. “I’m definitely proud of him. He has been through a lot. That still makes him a little bit sad now, thinking about it, but one time in high school, me and my family, we were all down about it. We didn’t know what to do.”

T.J. is 14 months younger than his sister, the youngest of four siblings. During Asia’s junior season at St. Pius X Catholic it became clear that something was wrong with her brother, who was sleeping a lot, experiencing double vision, neck pain and crushing headaches. Further testing revealed a horrifying uncertainty: T.J. had a brain tumor and would require a biopsy to determine whether it was cancerous.

The night he had surgery, Asia scored 30 points in a St. Pius playoff win after promising that she would Louisville’s Asia Durr on spending time with her brother, T.J.

“Our days haven’t always been pretty, but it has been so much fun to have him here and I know he’s having so much fun.”

see him again. The best part was when she was done, she learned that the tumor was not cancerous and T.J. could be cured with medication.

“When I was younger, I didn’t know how serious it was at the time,” T.J. said. “Her support really helped, and my family’s also. They helped me make it through

and she believed in me. Her kind words and everything really contributed to it.”

When his older sister decided to play college basketball at Louisville, T.J. turned down options to attend other schools to follow her and eventually join the program, too.

“You get to see the love between them and how Asia always tries to have her brother’s back and how he’s always there for her,” junior guard Arica Carter said. “I love seeing the dynamic that they have. Basketball takes a lot of time away from you, but since he works with us they get to continue to have that bond that they had in high school.”

T.J. said he hadn’t yet read the essay his sister had written but that he considers it a blessing to have been able to make this journey with her.

Asia said the feeling is mutual.

“It means a lot to share these moments with him,” she said. “Our days haven’t always been pretty, but it has been so much fun to have him here and I know he’s having so much fun.”