Nate walked back to his locker room after the game disappointed. His brother though was at the happiest moment of his life. Nova had just won the NCAA National Championship. They defeated Number 1 Carolina 77-74. Jenkins, who is Nate’s brother, made the game winning shot with no time left on the clock. This came after Carolina’s Marcus made a three pointer with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 74 a piece. Then Nova ran a play that never worked in practice, Ryan was supposed to shoot the final shot but was trapped by two Carolina defenders at the top of the right wing. Jenkins then proceeded to yell “Arch!”, “Arch!” and Ryan passed it back to Jenkins for the winner. This created one of the most, if not the most thrilling National Championship Game of all time.

I’m sure most people are wondering if they are brothers why are their last names different. They are brothers by choice not by blood. The two meet at AAU tournaments when they were 10 and from there Jenkin’s parents would visit John Hopkins and Kris would stay with the Britts. From there the relationship grew. A year later Kris’s mother asked Nate Britt Sr. if he would take Kris in. Britt Sr. agreed and he became Jenkin’s legal father. The Britt’s split time watching the two play in college. Britt Sr. said he’s been to about 12 games for each of them. Competitiveness runs in their families. They were so competitive that during the 2013 NCAA Tournament that they sat on opposite sides of the room and did not talk to each other during the Villanova- North Carolina game. Kris was decked out in Villanova gear and Nate in Carolina gear. This was a couple weeks after they had committed to their respective programs.

During this year’s NCAA Tournament the Britts did a lot of traveling. They drove from Philadelphia, where the East region Elite Eight was taking place, to Louisville, where the West region Elite Eight was taking place. Nate played in Philly and Kris played in Louisville. The trip from Philly to Louisville is a little over seven-hundred miles. The brothers also went to watch each other. When Kris won his game he scrambled to Philly to watch Nate win his game.

Even though Kris is legally the Britt’s son he is still close to his biological parents. His mother was in Houston with the Britts to watch the games. She was there to see her son make the game-winning shot. She witnessed it all.

None of these things that happened could as of easily not happened. Kris’s mother did not have to give Kris away. She defied every maternal law of nature by giving her son away. The Britts didn’t have to take in a kid they barely new. They could have denied him. Nate could have shut him out. Kris could have fell through the cracks and never have turned out as good as he did. So without the Britts generosity to take Kris in we wouldn't have a great story to talk about. We wouldn't have a game to remember for a life-time.

The most important person in the whole thing is not Kris, not Nate, not the Britts, but Kris’s mother. Most don't know the story of her. Or why she gave Kris up. The story of the separation between the two goes back to when he was 12. His parents got divorced and his mom took him to Baltimore with her after the divorce. She couldn't afford to pay for both of their needs and that is where the Britts stepped in. She let them become his legal guardians. The Britts being nice people still let her see her son.

In conclusion, the most important thing to remember in this whole story is that you should always be kind and open to people. You should never count anyone even when they have impossible odds to overcome. Most people would have said Kris had no chance at stardom considering that he was adopted. Just remember when you think you have it tough just remember what the Britts and Kris had to go through to achieve success instead of total failure.