BROOKLYN, N.Y. — After the dismissal bell rang at their elementary school, Tai and Terell Strickland routinely headed to the Memphis and later Kentucky basketball arenas, to train with their NBA veteran father, who served on those coaching staffs.

Now both in their early 20s, the Strickland brothers for the first time since that youth experience again will get regular tutelage from their father.

The reunion will take place with aspirations of an NCAA Tournament bid, in the city where Rod Strickland became a household name with the New York Knicks.

Guards Tai and Terell Strickland have transferred to LIU to play basketball for their father, who enters his second season as head coach of the Sharks in 2023-24. The reunion begins in earnest as the team gets on the court for the first time on Wednesday at Steinberg Wellness Center, as six weeks of official summer workouts get underway.

"I know they've got my back. I know them on and off the court," Rod Strickland said. "It just made sense."

Tai, 23, earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Temple. He played three seasons with the Owls, though 2021-22. Tai then spent last season as a graduate student at Georgia Southern. He has produced 439 points, 141 rebounds, 67 assists and 54 steals in 74 collegiate games, and has a final season of collegiate eligibility remaining.

Terell, 21, joins the Sharks with two seasons of eligibility remaining, after beginning his undergraduate career at James Madison. Battling through assorted injuries that led to multiple surgeries, he averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 assists per game in 50 games with the Dukes spanning three seasons.

"At the end of the season, you sit back and reflect, and you're like, 'Why not?'" Tai said about the family reunion.

Had Strickland been hired at LIU closer to the end of the 2021-22 season, rather than during that summer, the reunion may have taken place a year ago.

As it turned out, the delay allowed Terell to face his father in a game last season, when James Madison hosted LIU on Dec. 18, 2022.

In his season debut as he returned from injury, Terell came off the bench to apply pressure defense and produced five steals. He also contributed eight points, eight assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes in a 36-point victory.

"I hit a three by his bench and I just looked at his whole bench and said, 'Whoooooo!'" Terell recalled about his playful banter.

"I didn't hear that, because I would have told our players to knock him down," his father joked.

Tai was the less certain of the brothers to transfer to LIU, since he was enrolled in a two-year graduate program at Georgia Southern. The enticement of playing with his brother again, in addition to the allure of helping his father succeed in Brooklyn, prompted him to commit.

When Tai entered the transfer portal after this past season, the instructions were clear — no contact from any schools.

"I was going in for one reason and one reason only," Tai said. "I didn't really even want to test the waters."

During their lone season ever playing together, when Tai was a senior and Terell was a junior, St. Petersburg High School reached Florida's state final four in 2018. The team, which also included future Maryland/South Florida student-athlete Serrel Smith in the backcourt, ultimately fell, 73-58, in the semifinals to an Ely High School squad that included future Florida Atlantic standout Michael Forrest.

The family lightheartedly recalled butting heads during those hours-long after-school training sessions of Tai and Terell's youth on the courts at Memphis and Kentucky. 

Tai and Terell know their father will be on them during LIU practices as well. But Tai noted the intensity of the coaching should not be any different than with any other coach. Tai began his collegiate career on a Wisconsin team that reached the NCAA Tournament, and then played on a couple of Temple squads that flirted with tourney berths.

"There's nobody who is not going to be tough on you," Tai said. "…  If he's not hard on me, it would almost be a waste."

As for living accommodations, Tai and Terell have been crashing at their father's place. But that is about to end, their father noted.

"I'm kicking them out soon," Strickland joked. "They've both been in my place, and they're both leaving."