Koby Brea and Kobe Elvis were roommates for 3 years at Dayton -- they'll be opponents tonight

Koby Brea and Kobe Elvis share more in common than a similar first name. The two were roommates together at Dayton for the last three seasons before entering their names into the transfer portal in the offseason. As fate would have it, they landed in the Southeastern Conference. Tonight, at least for a two-hour stint, the long-time teammates (and now very close friends) will turn into enemies.

Brea made the move to Kentucky while Elvis jumped to Oklahoma. The Wildcats and Sooners clash tonight in Norman at 9:00 p.m. EST (SEC Network). Both in their fifth and final seasons playing college basketball, it will be odd to see each other wearing opposing jerseys. But this was something they knew could happen if the pieces fell into place.

“It’s gonna be fun. I was literally texting him this morning. That’s my roommate at Dayton,” Elvis said of Brea during Oklahoma’s pre-Kentucky press conference. “It’s gonna be a great feeling to go against my brother, somebody that I lived with for three years. Just gonna be fun and amazing. It’s gonna be a blessing to share the court with him.

“When we both decided to go to different schools, we always talked about ‘Hey, what if we end up playing each other?’ And we both ended up going to the same conference. We get a chance to see each other. That was definitely what we talked about. We talked about just being on the same team, all the memories we had before, and how fun it’s gonna be to share the court wearing different jerseys though.”

Brea (6-foot-6) and Elvis (6-foot-2) saw plenty of success together with the Flyers. They won at least 22 games in all three seasons, capped off by a Round of 32 appearance in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. As seniors that season, they combined to average 20.5 points per outing. Brea was the elite marksman while Elvis served as a floor general. Dayton went 71-31 (40-14 A-10) during their three seasons together.

Now at different schools, their seasons have gone in different directions.

Brea started his Kentucky tenure as the reliable outside shooter he was labeled to be (44.6 3PT% this season), but with some game-by-game inconsistencies. Injuries to the guards around him haven’t helped, but he’s used that as an opportunity to showcase other skills like attacking the rim, defending, and playmaking. Brea is averaging 2.6 assists per game over his last five outings. He scored 20 points in the loss to Alabama over the weekend.

“I think Brea’s one of the biggest weapons,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said when describing Kentucky. “Kobe obviously played with (Brea), so we watched a lot of him when we were looking at Kobe, but he’s more than just a shooter. He can put it on the deck. He’s athletic. Competitor.”

As for Elvis, his lone season at Oklahoma was off to a solid start. Through the Sooners’ first 16 games, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.9 assists in 28.6 minutes per game as a starter. But he was moved to the bench amidst Oklahoma’s four-game losing streak and has stayed in that role ever since. In his last 11 games off the pine, Elvis is averaging just 5.5 points and 1.3 assists in 16.3 minutes per outing.

But if there were ever a time to have a breakout game, it would be against a former teammate. We’ll see which Kobe/Koby gets the better of the other tonight.