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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Brothers Christian Dean (left) and Josh Huestis took different sporting paths after being separately adopted. (Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon SMI &amp;amp; Andy Lyons/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vancouver Whitecaps rookie defender Christian Dean is a former Cal Bear and knows enough about basketball to realize that picking a 10 seed to cut down the nets isn\u2019t sound bracketology.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But he\u2019s all-in this year with Cal\u2019s arch-rival, Stanford, even though the Cardinal needed two victories in the Pac-12 tournament just to secure their first NCAA bid in six years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI have them winning the whole thing,\u201D Dean said. \u201CAgainst Michigan in the final. I think I have them winning, 65-62. I want an exciting game.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said his Whitecaps teammates didn\u2019t tease him too much for a pick that appeared to remove himself from locker room pool contention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think everybody knows that I kind of have to go with them,\u201D he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dean, 21, bleeds Cardinal red as well as Cal blue. His ties to Stanford really do run that deep. It\u2019s a bond that transcends rivalry and adversity and which certainly doesn\u2019t leave him afraid to flout the odds (or to wear Stanford gear in public). It's a bond that could be shared only by brothers who put family ties first -- and Dean's is Stanford senior forward Josh Huestis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stanford's upset of second-seeded Kansas, which sealed a Sweet 16 spot, is the latest unexpected twist in a story that already reads like a movie script.\u00A0The film would begin outside Houston in the spring of 1993, when Dean and Huestis\u2019 mother, Sutton Lindsey, made the painful but courageous decision to give a second baby boy up for adoption inside 18 months. Huestis was a toddler living with his new guardians in Great Falls, Mont., when Lindsey agreed to send Christian to California with Bill and Elizabeth Dean. They left Texas with the understanding that Lindsey, who already was caring for a 5-year-old son and lacked the means to handle more, would remain part of their lives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe things she did for us by giving us up for adoption was, well, it had to be the hardest decision a parent can make. I can\u2019t even imagine,\u201D Huestis, 22, told SI.com from Memphis, where Stanford will meet Dayton on Thursday night. \u201CBut she did it for us. She put our futures ahead of hers and we\u2019re thankful \u2026 We wouldn\u2019t have the lives we have now.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Through their mother, and thanks to their flexible and gracious new families, Dean and Huestis forged a relationship that bridged the distance between Great Falls and East Palo Alto, Calif. They saw each other relatively frequently and, in the spring of 2010, lived together for the first time. Those six months proved crucial for Dean\u2019s athletic future and helped lead to a magical March 16. On that day less than two weeks ago, Huestis learned he\u2019d finally play in the NCAA tournament. At around the same time out in Los Angeles, Dean made his professional debut with his adoptive parents in attendance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt\u2019s kind of weird how our entire lives kind of culminated in one big moment at exactly the same time,\u201D Huestis said. \u201CI didn\u2019t really find out [Dean had played] until afterward. I was so happy and relieved.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dean\u2019s pro soccer career wasn\u2019t a sure thing. He hit a crossroads during his junior year in high school.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI was done,\u201D he said. \u201CI was missing a lot of stuff, my friends, things I really wanted to do and I couldn\u2019t do. I was 16 years old and wanted to hang out with friends and be a normal kid. I think the [soccer] travel and everything just wore me out to the point where I just couldn\u2019t take it anymore and I needed to do something else.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That something else was moving in with the Huestis family. He spent the semester with his brother in Montana, going to school, working out and watching as Josh prepared for life at Stanford.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CJust seeing how he handled himself was interesting,\u201D Dean said. \u201CHe was able to do the basketball side, training, and also balancing time with friends. That was something that really kind of motivated me.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Said Huestis, \u201CHe started to pick up basketball. He was very athletic and he could get by on that alone \u2026 I said, \u2018How about you start working out with me and we'll see where it goes.\u2019 I think that kind of got his mind off soccer a little bit. It allowed him to have fun with a sport again. The whole time I was trying to remind him, \u2018You know, I realize you may be burnt out, but soccer is what you\u2019re great at. You can love it and your future can be in that.\u2019\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dean rediscovered the love, returned to his club following the school year and then received word that UCLA was interested in recruiting him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThat spark brought me back,\u201D he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But Dean chose Cal, which was closer to home and closer to his brother, who was making the most of his opportunity at Stanford. Huestis averaged 20 minutes per game as a sophomore as the Cardinal won the 2012 NIT title. He started every game the following season and was named to the Pac-12 all defensive team, an honor he claimed again this year. Now he\u2019s Stanford\u2019s all-time leader in blocked shots and the man who helped shut down Kansas phenom Andrew Wiggins. That win, and Lindsey\u2019s visit for senior night at Maples Pavilion, have been the highlights.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, Dean made the transition from left back to center back relatively seamlessly last summer and helped Cal reach the 2013 NCAA quarterfinals. Listed at 6-3, 200 pounds, he had all the necessary physical tools and then some, and said he\u2019s made significant progress on his touch, positioning and dealing with the speed of the pro game. He was drafted third overall by Vancouver and on March 16, he took to the Stubhub Center Field in the 77th\u00A0minute as the Whitecaps trailed host Chivas USA. Moments later, Kekuta Manneh tallied the equalizer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was really exhilarating and exciting for me,\u201D Dean said. \u201CAnd it went by really quick. I wish it lasted longer.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was a whirlwind. It wasn\u2019t until a day or two later, by which time Dean was a bona fide pro and Huestis on his way to the tournament, that the brothers had a chance to talk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI know my phone was blowing up, and the fact that he made his professional debut, when you get to the professional stage, people really take notice,\u201D Huestis said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dean\u2019s goal at the moment is to remain on coach Carl Robinson\u2019s radar and get his minutes when he can. He\u2019s behind captain Jay DeMerit, English veteran Andy O'Brien and a pair of internationals -- Honduran Johnny Lever\u00F3n and Trinidad &amp;amp; Tobago\u2019s Carlyle Mitchell -- on the depth chart. There\u2019s still a long way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But his brother never is far from his thoughts. He\u2019ll head to a sports bar near his home in Vancouver on Thursday afternoon to watch Huestis in the Sweet 16. He won\u2019t be there to socialize.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI usually watch it alone,\u201D Dean said. \u201CI just kind of sit down and yell at the TV. I've already been recognized a couple of times, but I try to wear a beanie or a hood and keep a low profile.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once Stanford's tournament run concludes, Huestis intends to work on solidfying his own professional prospects. But there will be time for a trip north of the border.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI\u2019m already working on the plan. I\u2019m already talking to teammates \u2026 They consider my brother their brother, too. He\u2019s been around so much,\u201D Huestis said. \u201CVancouver is on the top of our list of places we\u2019ve got to go after college.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He admitted that he's still relatively new to soccer. Almost everything he knows, he\u2019s picked up from Dean.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWatching a defender in soccer, you can\u2019t really pick out any stats that show you how well he they played. You have to watch the game,\u201D he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But Huestis is eager to learn more, and while he\u2019ll no longer have to don Cal Bear blue when watching his brother play, he\u2019s aware that the atmosphere can get a little intense. Just look for the 6-7 guy with the scarf at BC Place this summer.\n\u201CI\u2019m ready to be loud,\u201D he said.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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