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Allen and Mayo.
Mention those two names to professional basketball fans in Memphis and they would recognize them as Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo of the National Basketball Association's Grizzlies.
But offer up those names to college hoops fans in Milwaukee and they would point to senior guard Ryan Allen of UW-Milwaukee and freshman guard Todd Mayo of Marquette.
Ryan is the younger brother of Tony and Todd is the younger brother of O.J., and both Ryan and Todd have discovered that being the younger brother of an NBA player has a definite upside but that it also can be difficult.
"Sometimes it is (difficult)," Todd Mayo said. "Growing up, they're always hard on you and want you to be just like him. And then you kind of follow after him after he gets successful and becomes a positive role model. So it is kind of hard because they set the standard really, really high, but it's great to be his brother."
Ryan and Todd agree that it is quite a coincidence that their brothers play for the same NBA team and they both have landed in Milwaukee to play college ball.
Although Marquette and UWM played each other earlier this season, the paths of Ryan and Todd had crossed before that game.
Ryan remembers meeting Todd in Miami once through O.J., whom Ryan has known for years. Todd recalls another meeting in Memphis.
"We've come across each other a couple times," Todd said. "I've seen (Ryan) in Memphis with his brother. At first I thought he was Tony because they look just alike."
Tony Allen is in his eighth NBA season and second in Memphis.
He was a first-round draft choice of the Boston Celtics in 2004 out of Oklahoma State, where he played two seasons. Before that, he attended Butler County Community College in Kansas for a year and then Wabash Valley College in Illinois. Tony was a member of the Celtics' 2008 championship team and signed with Memphis as a free agent in July 2010.
"He's influenced me a lot," said Ryan, a 6-foot-3 leaper. "He showed me it's possible to be successful at basketball. Everything wasn't always good for him coming up. He had to go to junior college. He wasn't always a starter for his team. Even in the NBA, he wasn't a star but he made it happen."
Ryan is asked often if he and his brother ever go one-on-one.
"We've played four times and he won (all four)," Ryan said. "He really doesn't play me much. When we get in the gym he just wants to work me out and work on the things I need to work on. I think he's scared now because the last time we played I almost won."
O.J. Mayo is in his fourth season with the Grizzlies. He entered the 2008 draft after playing one season at Southern California and Minnesota made him the third overall pick. His draft rights were traded to Memphis for the rights to Kevin Love in a deal that involved several other players.
O.J. was on the phone to Todd after Todd got his first start for the Golden Eagles on Dec. 17 against Northern Colorado and scored a season-high 22 points.
"He was telling me to stay focused and keep working," Todd said. "Stay in the gym and make the (shooting) gun your best friend."
By the sound of it, the Mayo brothers go after each other one-on-one more often than the Allen brothers do. Todd notched his first victory over O.J. when O.J. traveled to the state to watch Marquette play Wisconsin in Madison on Dec. 3.
O.J. didn't get to attend the game, however.
"We play one-on-one every time we're around each other," Todd said. "I just recently won my first one out of probably a million.
"He was going to come to the Wisconsin game but he thought it was in Milwaukee but then found out it was in Madison. So he stayed in a hotel and watched the game and the next morning we came to the gym at 7 and got some shots up and we played one-on-one."
Had O.J. made it to Madison he would have seen Todd score 14 points and score a key basket to squelch a second-half Wisconsin rally. Todd cut down the lane, took a pass from Jae Crowder and lofted a high-arching shot over the Badgers' 6-10 Jared Berggren that nestled into the net.
It was a shot Todd had worked on last summer while playing with his brother in California in games involving NBA big men Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant.
"They call it a 'kiss' here but it's a floater," Todd said. "I've hit that shot many times. You have to throw it up over those (NBA) big guys because they can really jump and they're going to block it (otherwise)."
Ryan and Todd are having good seasons.
Ryan, who has started all 18 Panthers games, is averaging 9.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 30.7 minutes per game. He also has 25 blocks and 16 steals.
"He's been more of an offensive threat this year for us," UWM coach Rob Jeter said. "Defensively, he's really been an anchor guarding the better players on the other team."
Todd is averaging 9.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 21.2 minutes per game, has made 18 three-pointers and also is a solid defender, which has prompted coach Buzz Williams to say he has never seen a freshman join a good team and have such an immediate impact on both ends of the floor.
As the season continues, Ryan and Todd both know that big brother is only a phone call away.
"I talk to (Tony) after every game," Ryan said. "I talk to him after his games and my games. (He says) just stay consistent and work hard every day through all the good and all the bad."
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