There are players on the Mass Street roster who left long-lasting legacies in the Kansas men’s basketball program — a national player of the year in Frank Mason III, a consensus All-American with his jersey in the rafters in Thomas Robinson and so on.
There are some who never even played at KU at all: Chandler Lawson (Dedric Lawson’s brother who went to Oregon, Memphis and Arkansas) and Travis Washington (from Coffeyville Community College and Utah Valley).
And then, more so this year than in Mass Street’s first run, there’s a middle group: players who for various reasons didn’t spend long at KU, like Sam Cunliffe or Billy Preston.
“I really loved it here,” said Cunliffe, who played half a season during the Jayhawks’ 2018 Final Four run. “I loved my time here. I didn’t really have a problem with anybody. I was sad to leave. So it’s honestly just a surreal moment to be able to represent the school that I love.”
Tyshawn Taylor, a four-year KU player who helped organize this year’s Mass Street squad, said these players’ willingness to return speaks well of KU basketball and the community that surrounds it.
“Kansas isn’t for everybody as far as it comes to basketball,” he told the Journal-World. “It’s not like a place where everybody goes and flourishes. A lot of people do and it’s great for them, but some people have to find their way and this is just a stop there.
“And so those guys, we’re all still a brotherhood, they bleed the red and blue just like guys who have been here for four or five years. So once you’re in it, you’re in it, and there’s always going to be a respect level there that I think most guys understand.”
Mason, both Lawsons, Washington, Cunliffe and Preston were all in attendance at Mass Street’s open practice on Thursday at The Good Game gym in Lawrence, along with Jamari Traylor and Lagerald Vick. They are all preparing for the team’s opening game of The Basketball Tournament, at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Wichita against Colorado State alumni team Ram Up.
“When they were like ‘Hey, we want you to come play, I was like ‘Absolutely, 100%,'” Cunliffe said. “I mean, this has been awesome, we haven’t even played yet.”
More reinforcements, each with their own distinct KU stories, will arrive soon. Taylor said Brandon Rush will play, and that Robinson and Silvio De Sousa could join down the line if Mass Street advances (in Robinson’s case depending on outcomes in the Puerto Rican playoffs, and in De Sousa’s on injury rehab after he represented Angola internationally).
When the team takes the Charles Koch Arena court on Saturday, it will be the culmination of a lot of planning by Taylor and his fellow organizers, a process he said “has not been easy but it’s been worthwhile,” especially after seeing the scrimmage against Purple Reign on Wednesday. (Sherron Collins is head coach and Taylor and Travis Releford are general managers.)
“Kansas is a university that has so many great alumni, so many guys that played in the past and are still actively playing,” Taylor said, “so when something like this comes up and you’re trying to put an alumni team together, you got a big pool of guys to pick from. And trying to narrow down who you want to reach out to and things like that is hard already, and then once you start reaching out to people and starting hearing nos, it gets harder.”
Last year’s team won first- and second-round matches before falling to Heartfire in the third round; Heartfire eventually won the entire tournament and its million-dollar prize. Taylor said his main takeaway from last year’s run was that the team needed to be younger. Certainly players like Cunliffe, De Sousa, the Lawsons and Preston fit the bill.
Mass Street still has to prove its mettle on the court, though, especially after losing to Purple Reign (a lower-seeded team in the actual competition) convincingly on Wednesday.
“It’s about the talent you bring, which I think we have, and just playing hard,” Taylor said. “Just competing, pushing yourself, not turning the ball over and limiting your possessions and making sure you rebound the basketball. And you got to have players who can finish games in the Elam Ending — and we got Frank Mason, so there you go for that.”
Frank Mason III during an open practice for the Mass Street TBT team on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Lawrence.
The opponent
Ram Up, led by head coach and general manager Derrick Stevens, is coming off back-to-back first-round exits, against LA Cheaters in 2022 and an Arkansas alumni team last year.
One consistent participant is Andy Ogide, who was the leading scorer with 18 points against LA Cheaters but had just five in the 2023 game. The 6-foot-9 power forward, who transferred from Ole Miss to CSU during his college career, is 36 and most recently played in Romania during the 2022-23 season.
The team does not have much continuity on the floor otherwise from last season’s roster. Greg Smith, a 6-foot-7 wing who had five points and four rebounds in the defeat to Team Arkansas (also in Wichita), has professional experience in countries like France, Mexico and the Philippines.
Ram Up does have the considerable benefit of some young alumni, the sorts of players Mass Street has rarely featured on its own roster, many of whom began their careers at lower levels and finished at CSU.
Joel Scott, a former Division II standout at Black Hills State, just wrapped up his lone year at CSU in March, averaging 13.1 points per game for the NCAA Tournament team. Patrick Cartier, a forward who had played at Hillsdale College, joined Scott in the starting lineup with 10.4 points on 51.7% shooting. Joe Palmer, himself a onetime Division III transfer, spent two years with the Rams as a role player from 2022-24.
Also listing CSU among his former colleges on the TBT roster is Kendle Moore, a four-year starter for the Rams before one season at Missouri State (2022-23).
The rest of the Ram Up players are a familiar name in former Kansas State Wildcat guard Carlbe Ervin, two more Ole Miss-affiliated players in Deangelo Riley and Terrico White (once an NBA Draft pick of the Detroit Pistons), as well as DJ Cooper (Ohio), Larry Plummer (Missouri Valley College) and TK Edogi (Tulsa/Iona).
Colorado State forward Joel Scott (1) catches a pass over Nevada forward K.J. Hymes, right,during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Las Vegas.
Colorado State forward Patrick Cartier, front, drives past San Diego State guard Reese Waters in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colo.
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
AP Photo/Ian Maule
AP Photo/David Zalubowski