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SF State Chemistry Begins With Brothers

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- San Francisco State forwards Jash and AJ Kahlon share a typical brotherly bond.

"He's a pretty big brat," said AJ with a chuckle.

Just two years between them, they are inseparable in life, yet relative strangers on the basketball floor.

"It's been special," said Jash. "I never thought this would happened."

The Kahlons are on the same team for the first time in their lives, and the results have been great for a Gators team that hasn't enjoyed this kind of success since the 80s.

"We joke around that if you mixed them together, you'd have the perfect player," said head Coach Paul Trevor who is in his 7th season with the Gators.

Jash is the younger brother and has been playing since he was old enough to dribble a ball. AJ didn't get serious about the game until four years ago when he was a high school senior in Stockton.

"He wasn't really into sports at the time," said Jash. "He was more into video games."

AJ put down the controller, had a massive nine inch growth spurt and decided he didn't want to waste his 6-11 frame. His game was raw in the beginning.

"Sometimes I'd be a deer in the headlights. There'd be a play and I would complete forget what we were doing," said AJ. "It was obvious I wasn't caught up to everyone else."

Both brothers had a stint in junior college before Trevor recruited them. Now finally on the same roster together, AJ's game has taken off. The senior is a fixture in the starting lineup, and is averaging nearly nine points and nine rebounds per game.

"At first he couldn't dribble a basketball through his legs," said Jash. "Now he's dunking on people."

Kahlon blood is basketball blood. Their father played on the Indian national team and has molded two of just a few Indian ballers in the Bay Area.

Family has been the theme of the Gators' season. The close-knit group has nine returning players, making them a squad with more than just two brothers.

"Sometimes I get mad at practice and push him around a little bit," said Jash, the stockier brother. "He has those sharp little elbows."

"He's got 20 pounds on me so it goes both ways," AJ replied with a smile.

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