Just two months from Big Blue Madness, the official tipoff to the 2011-12 Kentucky basketball season, UKAthletics.com writers Eric Lindsey and Guy Ramsey will be profiling UK’s five newcomers, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, Kyle Wiltjer, Marquis Teague and Ryan Harrow,  in a CoachCal.com exclusive series. Today is Teague’s turn.

Marquis Teague knows what it’s like to follow in the footsteps of an accomplished predecessor.

Teague has a brother, Jeff, who is five years his senior. The elder Teague earned All-America honors at Wake Forest before being picked in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

Before he even took the floor at Pike High School in Indianapolis, he bore the Teague name and the expectations that came with it. Instead of dwelling on the pressure of those expectations, Teague set out to use his brother’s success as motivation, as a roadmap to creating his own legacy. His relationship with Jeff has helped him arrive at Kentucky as a part of the nation’s top recruiting class.

“We’ve got a good relationship,” Teague said of his older brother. “We call each other and talk a lot. (He) pretty much tries to be a good role model for me and we have a great relationship. He has shown me how hard you need to work to get to that level.”

Who better then to be the next point guard at UK?

By now, the names roll off the tongue. Brandon Knight, John Wall, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose are John Calipari’s last four point guards. Each took his team to at least the Sweet 16. Each was picked in the top eight of the NBA Draft. Two went on to earn Rookie of the Year honors in their first professional seasons.

Many a player would shy away from trying to fill the shoes of that quartet and choose to play college basketball somewhere he could make his own name. Teague simply is not built that way.

Rather than focusing on the pressure he faces in taking over as UK’s point guard, Teague sees his forebears for how much they can help him.

“I just look at them like they help me out a lot,” Teague said. “They tell me how things are going to be running the floor as a point guard. I don’t really view it as comparing them to me or if I’m going do what they did or try to be better. I don’t look at it like that.”

With the NBA still mired in a lockout, Wall and Knight figure to spend plenty of time around Lexington. Teague won’t be afraid to pick their brains, although he already has a good idea of what he needs to do be successful.

“If they come around campus, I’ll probably talk to them and ask for advice,” Teague said. “I’m just going out to play my game. I (am not) trying compare myself to anybody. I’m just trying to come out and compete hard and try to win.”

Having played high school basketball after his brother, Teague has an awareness that he must focus on himself and himself alone as he prepares for his freshman season. He has another experience under his belt that gives him a head start on leading a team as talented as the one he’ll play on beginning this fall.

Last summer before his senior year in high school, Teague played on Team USA at the U17 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Teague helped lead his team to a gold medal and a perfect 8-0 record in the tournament.

“That was the greatest experience of my whole career, to get to go over there and play for my country,” Teague said. “It was a really good experience getting to play with all the other top players in the country for your country. It was a great experience and it’s always going to mean a lot to me.”

Teague came off the bench and averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 assists, the second-best total of any player. For the first time in his career, he was on a team full of players with talent comparable to his own. The experience taught him to trust his teammates and pick his spots, skills that should translate this season.

“For a point guard, that made the job a lot easier,” Teague said. “You’re going to guys who are going score at will, going to big men with good post moves and they can score the ball. It taught me how to play with top-rated players and the best players in the country, so I’m already used to playing with those types of players. It’s going to help me out a lot at Kentucky.”

The tournament was also a chance to build a relationship with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who also played on Team USA and will take the court with him at UK this season. It was the first of a number of such opportunities, as Teague played with Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis and Kyle Wiltjer in a series of all-star events this past spring. As a point guard, the importance of those events is not lost on him.

“It’s going to help a lot,” Teague said. “We’re all real, real close friends. It’s like a brotherhood. We’re developing a bond from the jump and I think we’re going to have better team chemistry. All that stuff helps on the floor. We’re figuring each other’s games out a little bit already, so when we’re on the court I know where they’re going to be already and they know where I’m going to be.”

Very quickly, Teague has seen how that kind of chemistry can translate in playing pick-up basketball at the Joe Craft Center. He is already adept in running the pick-and-roll with Davis and Gilchrist, as well as sophomore forward Terrence Jones.

“I try to develop that (chemistry) with them because (we’ll use) a lot of pick-and-rolls,” Teague said. “When somebody is rolling, you have to know where they are.”

That work on pick-and-rolls will pay off during the season, but for now Teague is worried about how it will help his team in the next pick-up game. Competition has been fierce from day one, which suits Teague just fine.

“It’s exciting,” Teague said. “Everybody is really good and our pick-up games are really competitive. People go at each other, so it’s just fun.”

Matching up most days against Teague is Ryan Harrow, a point guard sitting out this season at UK after transferring from North Carolina State. Harrow is the next point guard in line at UK, which is excellent preparation for both because the two are so similar.

“I think I have the biggest impact on Marquis,” Harrow said. “If he has to guard me every day in practice, when he goes out and plays a really good guy, it’s going to be like ‘Oh, I’m going to be ready for it because I do this every day.’ ”

Playing against Harrow every day is yet another experience that will help his transition to college basketball go that much more smoothly, but having so much information rattling around in his head is not going to overcomplicate his approach.

“I just want to come out and play hard every game, defend and do anything I can to help the team,” Teague said.