The Jacksons sing. The Coens direct. The Bushes run for office.

And the Herrions coach basketball.

"It's who we are," said Tom Herrion, rookie head coach at College of Charleston and kid brother of Bill Herrion, fourth-year head coach at East Carolina. "Some families grow up in medicine, law or business, but we were fortunate from early on that basketball has been part of our whole family."

	"	It's who we are. Some families grow up in medicine, law or business, but we were fortunate from early on that basketball has been part of our whole family. "
		— Tom Herrion, first-year Charleston head coach

They are sons of a coach and younger brothers of a ref (doubtless the family black sheep). They began learning the trade in the Massachusetts winters of their youth, watching their respected and much-loved father, Jim Herrion, work as an assistant coach at Holy Cross and as the head coach at Division III Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As a child Tommy would sneak into dad's car on Saturday mornings, in hopes of smuggling himself into practice.

Their lifetime soundtrack has been the rhythmic slap of leather on wood. Their mother, Joyce Adams, has lived so much ball that she can probably diagram inbounds plays in her sleep. Family values, Herrion style: jump stops, solid screens, proper block-out technique -- and winning games.

They might not be the Venus and Serena of college hoops, but you'd have a hard time finding two coaches off to better starts this season than Billy and Tommy.

Tom Herrion is 7-1, after one of the more auspicious opening acts this side of Steve Fisher and Larry Coker. His fast-paced Cougars won the Great Alaska Shootout in his first three games as the boss, then barged into the Top 25 before finally losing last week to Central Florida.

Bill Herrion is 7-0 at a previously miserable program, having already beaten a team from the Southeastern Conference (Mississippi) and the Big East (Virginia Tech). The pound-it-in Pirates have tied the best start in school history and could better it Thursday night at home against George Mason.

"That was the big thing," Bill said. "Who was going to lose first?"

Tommy did, and promptly dropped off radar. ("Once you lose," Bill said, "nobody picks their cell phone up.")

Despite getting the leg up in a nascent sibling rivalry, Bill isn't getting chesty.

"Everybody wants to know if we're going to schedule them," he said. "I said, 'I've got to see if he can coach first.' I've seen them play, and the answer is no."

Said Tommy: "He's scared of us, that's the truth. Tell him we'll schedule two-for-one ... two in Kresse Arena (Charleston's home gym) and one in Minges (the Pirates' crib)."

This jocose jousting is done by guys with hahd-boiled New England accents plying their trade in the Carolinas, land of the syrupy drawl. But the South is rife with Yankee coaches, from Pitino at Louisville to Gillen at Virginia to Donovan at Florida. The brothers Herrion are simply the latest imports, following the family business where it took them.

	"	Everybody wants to know if we're going to schedule them. I said, 'I've got to see if he can coach first.' I've seen them play, and the answer is no. "
		— Bill Herrion, East Carolina head coach

"This thing consumes both of us," Tommy Herrion said. "There's a passion for it, and we love it. Whenever we're together, it's all we talk about.

"It's sad, in a comical way. Sad but unique."

Unique, indeed. There have been father-son coaching families (The Meyers, the Monsons). There have been brother-brother playing families (Scooter and Rodney McCray, Charles and Ed O'Bannon).

But brother-brother coaches? Not so many -- at least in the same sport, on the same level and at the same time.

There are the Nutts: Houston coaches football at Arkansas, Dickey coaches basketball at Arkansas State.

There were the Valvanos: Jim in Division I, Bob in Division II, before both adjourned to broadcasting.

There are the Stoopses: Bob is the head football coach at Oklahoma, Mike is a head coach in waiting.

The were the Bowdens: Terry at Auburn and Tommy at Tulane and Clemson, but they weren't both running their own programs at the same time for long.

There are the various and sundry Dieners populating Conference USA, all of the coach-on-the-floor variety. Give them 20 years and we'll check back.

At 14-1, the Herrions are the siblings of the moment. But they're hardly indistinguishable.

They didn't grow up gouging each other's eyes out on the hoop in the driveway. Bill is 10 years older than Tommy, and other than both attending playing for and coaching under Bert Hammel at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, they've taken different paths to this point.

Bill worked six years for Mike Jarvis at Boston U. and George Washington before getting his first head-coaching gig at Drexel. Tommy latched on with Gillen at Providence and Virginia before getting the Charleston job, replacing an institution in John Kresse (another Yankee who came to roost in Dixie).

"Tommy has taken so much from Pete Gillen," Bill said. "It's more of a 94-foot game for him."

"They play a little closer to the vest," Tom said. "We're a little more up-tempo."

Sounds like one more good reason to schedule college basketball's current first family for a series.

Games of the Week

Kentucky vs. Indiana in Louisville Saturday Two of the very few low points of the Mike Davis Era have been supplied by the rival Wildcats. When Kentucky routed Indiana in Louisville in 2000, Davis had a near-meltdown press conference afterward, announcing, "I can't coach this team." Before last year's game in Indianapolis, Davis rather unwisely said, "I hate Kentucky," then watched his team get spanked again. Round Three appears to favor the Hoosiers, but this rivalry is rarely predictable. Arizona at LSU Saturday Looks like Mission Impossible for the Tigers, but they can cling to hope for two reasons: Luke Walton's bum ankle, and the fact that the home team has won each of the previous six meetings between the two schools. Mississippi at Memphis Saturday Rebels won last year in a tight, fierce game that helped get them into the NCAA Tournament, and helped keep the Tigers out. DePaul at St. Joseph's Blue Demons got back on the beam by beating Florida International, but Jameer Nelson and the Hawks are another matter. Good mascot matchup, if nothing else.

SEC's Winding Road To Top
Pretty much as expected, Alabama, Mississippi State and Florida have elevated themselves to the top of the Southeastern Conference heap so far in non-conference play, just ahead of Kentucky and Georgia.

But the big three has not necessarily risen to the top through the expected methods.

The Crimson Tide has played the most according to form while rising to No. 2 in the nation, getting the anticipated star turns from big man Erwin Dudley and point guard Mo Williams. But they've displayed other weapons as well, beating Bowling Green behind a career-high 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots from Kenny Walker. The senior is the Tide's No. 2 scorer at 14.4 points per game, behind Williams and just ahead of Dudley. He's also second on the team in rebounding and leads in blocked shots.

The Bulldogs have gotten there largely without star center Mario Austin, who didn't play until dropping a 28-point haymaker on Xavier last Saturday. (He followed up his debut with a 24 and 10 against Georgia State on Wednesday night). In Austin's absence, the nation has been given the chance to appreciate the talented backcourt of Derrick Zimmerman and Timmy Bowers, who are combining to average 27.5 points, 8. 1 rebounds and 8 assists per game.

The Gators are off and running despite the annual slow start from gimpy guard Brett Nelson and the no-show from injured Dane Christian Drejer. Instead the hot hands have belonged to freshmen Anthony Roberson (14.1 ppg, leads the team in assists) and Matt Walsh (leading scorer at 14.6 ppg).

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