"I imagined many times how I would block my older brother's attacks": How the 203rd-cm younger brother and left-handed older brother made history as the first 'brothers in Round 1' of the V-League

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

"I imagined many times the situation where I would block my older brother's attacks."

The two brothers, who had been on the same side their entire lives, now face each other as opponents across the net. This is the story of Jang Bo-seok (22) and Jang Eun-seok (20), both from Hanyang University, who made history by becoming the first brothers to be selected in the first round of the men's professional volleyball rookie draft.

The two players shared the honor of being selected in the first round at the 2026-2027 Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Men's Rookie Draft held on the 28th at the Mayfield Hotel in Gangseo-gu, Seoul.

Jang Eun-seok, the younger brother and a tall middle blocker standing 203 cm, was called first. Hyundai Capital selected Jang Eun-seok with the second overall pick, having secured it by overcoming a 2% lottery probability for the top pick. Following this, KB Insurance called out Jang Bo-seok, the older brother and a left-handed opposite spiker standing 196 cm, with the fourth overall pick.

The simultaneous rookie draft selection of brothers is the second in history, following Lee Ji-hoon (31, Korean Air) and Lee Ji-seok (28, Samsung Fire & Marine) in the 2018-2019 season. However, this is the first time brothers have both made the list in the first round simultaneously.

Immediately after being selected, Jang Bo-seok met with the press and said, "I am grateful to the officials of the clubs who thought highly of us. Given that there is a history of brothers being selected together, we will show good performance in the professional league as well." Jang Eun-seok also expressed his joy, saying, "It is nice that I could go to the first round with my older brother. Although our teams are different, I hope we can grow into good players on our respective teams."

The brothers walked the same path from Doje-won Elementary School, Seorak Middle School, and Sokcho High School to Hanyang University. The younger brother started volleyball first. Jang Eun-seok began playing volleyball in his second year of middle school, while his older brother, Jang Bo-seok, did not seriously pick up a volleyball until his first year of high school.

Although they started late, both players grew rapidly by leveraging their exceptional physical conditions. Jang Eun-seok is a middle blocker standing 203 cm tall. He consistently performed well for the youth national team and contributed to Korea's bronze medal win at the 2023 U-19 World Championship, the country's first in 30 years.

He also proved his height advantage in college. In this year's KUSF University Volleyball U-League, Jang Eun-seok appeared in 22 sets, recording 24 blocks and a block average of 1.09 per set, ranking first in that category. His attack success rate also reached 71%. At the Danyang Tournament, he recorded an 81% attack success rate and 12 blocks.

Hyundai Capital head coach Philippe Blang (66) stated immediately after the draft, "He is a middle blocker with a height rarely seen in Korea. I had been watching his college games for a while and thinking about how Jang Eun-seok could help our team." He added, "I expected him to be a player worthy of being selected with a high pick."

Hanyang University head coach Song Byung-il (43) explained Jang Eun-seok's growth during his college years in a phone call with StarNews on the 30th. Coach Song said, "No matter how tall a middle blocker is, he must possess fundamental skills and connection abilities. We trained him extensively on underhand tosses, overhand tosses, blocking, and serving." He evaluated, "I have training videos from when he enrolled, and compared to two years ago, he has grown significantly." He continued by praising him, saying, "His personality is very gentle and mild. For two years, he never caused any trouble and trained hard."

On the other hand, older brother Jang Bo-seok is a left-handed opposite spiker standing 196 cm tall. Although he started volleyball relatively late, he gained attention on the college stage with his high hitting point, attacking power, and serve as weapons. In this year's KUSF University Volleyball U-League, he appeared in 20 sets, recording 90 points and a 50% attack success rate. In particular, his serve ranked first with an average of 0.50 per set, and he also received the Best Attacker award at the Korean Air National University Volleyball Goseong Tournament.

However, Coach Song revealed that he was not certain about Jang Bo-seok's professional selection due to his position. Coach Song stated, "The opposite spiker is a position that competes with foreign players, so I was anxious, but we were all very happy—the player, the family, and the school—that he was selected."

He continued, "(Jang) Bo-seok has the advantage of being left-handed and possesses blocking ability. However, his serve accuracy and defensive skills need further development." He pointed out a realistic challenge, saying, "If it were a foreign player, they could be given time even if they made mistakes, but if a domestic player makes the same defensive error, he has no choice but to come off the court."

KB Insurance head coach Isanaye Ramirez (42) placed expectations on Jang Bo-seok's potential. Coach Ramirez said, "It is true that domestic opposite resources are rare in Korea. However, as the league level rises, opportunities to utilize domestic opposites through tactics like double changes are also increasing."

He continued, "Jang Bo-seok is a young and talented player. We will help him develop his skills so he can be an asset to the team." He expressed hope, adding, "The Korean national team is also looking for good domestic opposite resources. This could be another opportunity for Jang Bo-seok as well."

A figure who cannot be overlooked in the brothers' journey to the professional stage is their father, Jang Ki-sik, a former track and field athlete. Jang Bo-seok recalled, "My father told us to stake our lives when exercising. He made us keep training even on rest days, so there were many times I told him to stop nagging." He reflected, "But looking back now, I am grateful. Our ability to reach the professional level was largely due to our father's help."

Jang Eun-seok also chimed in, saying, "Even when we were resting at home on weekends, our father would take us out and make us do weight training and stretching. Since he had exercised before, we received a lot of help from him."

The bond between the brothers became even stronger after they entered university. Jang Bo-seok said, "We were a bit awkward at first, but we got much closer after becoming adults." The younger brother laughed and said, "I thought we were already close. I don't know what my older brother thinks, but it seems like we got even closer after coming to university."

Now, they have moved from a relationship where they helped each other on the same court to competing as players for opposing teams. Jang Bo-seok said, "My younger brother is fast in quick attacks and has good agility relative to his height. He is a player who is difficult to break through because of his height and blocking." However, he expressed confidence, saying, "As his older brother, I know many things about him, so I think I can definitely break through."

The younger brother did not back down either. Jang Eun-seok responded, "My older brother has good power in serving and attacking, and a high hitting point. However, since he started volleyball late, I think there are still areas where his fundamentals are lacking."

In particular, Jang Eun-seok said, "Even before coming to the draft, I often thought about going to a different team from my older brother and facing him on the opposite side of the court. I imagined scenes where I would block with my blocking when my older brother attacked," looking forward to their head-to-head matchup.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original