Younger Teague to follow dad as Pitino player?

Marquis Teague, a highly-rated point guard and brother of former Wake Forest star Jeff Teague, sounded close to announcing Louisville as his college choice.

“I kind of know where I want to go,” he told reporters at the Cleveland-based King City Classic on Wednesday.

After listening to Teague speak about Louisville (the first school he mentioned on his list of five schools), U of L seems like a good guess.

“I love the whole university,” he said. “. . . It’s a great school.”

Teague also likes U of L Coach Rick Pitino, who coincidentally coached the player’s father, Shawn Teague, at Boston University.

“Coach Pitino is going to make you play hard,” Teague said. “He won’t let you slack off and waste his time.”

Teague downplayed the significance of his father playing for Pitino.

“That was at Boston,” he said. “My dad says Coach Pitino has changed a lot. He was trying to make it (in the early 1980s). The practices were terrible. My dad says there were drills then that Coach Pitino doesn’t do now.”

For instance, Teague noted a drill in which players held a brick in each hand while doing defensive slides.

Besides Louisville, Teague mentioned Indiana, Wake Forest, Ohio State and Purdue as his final five schools. A junior to be from Indianapolis, he said he’d like to visit Kentucky if UK offers a scholarship.

In its summer ratings, The Prep Stars recruiting service tabbed Teague as the fourth best player in the high school class of 2011.

“I try not to pay attention to the rankings,” he said. “You can lose that in one day. It means you have to bring it every day. Somebody’s coming for your spot.”

His older brother’s example serves to remind Teague not to take the rankings too seriously. At a similar stage, Jeff Teague was not a top 50 player. He became a star at Wake Forest and a first-round draft pick.

“He never really worried about the rankings,” Teague said of his brother. “He just wanted to compete.”

That competitive spirit extended to games pitting brother against brother.

“I don’t get anything easy,” Teague said of those matchups. “He bullies me.”

The older brother isn’t entirely merciless. He’s advised Teague on how to improve his perimeter shooting, an aspect of the player’s game that needs work.

“It’s average,” Teague said of his shooting ability. “It’s getting better. I”m so used to getting to the hoop so easy, I never had to shoot.”

Now, his older brother is reminding him of the importance of shot preparation.

“Getting your feet ready,” he said. “If you’re not ready, you’re not going to get that off in college.”