Carlton Bragg has spent the better part of the last eight years bouncing from country to country, team to team, but this summer has brought him back to a familiar place.
Back in Lawrence for KU’s JHX Hoops squad in the 2026 TBT, the 30-year-old power forward said the version of him people are seeing now is not the same player who left Kansas after the 2016-17 season.
“I don’t think you’ve seen this Carlton Bragg before - in really good shape, new and improved,” Bragg said with a big smile.
Bragg played 38 games for the Jayhawks in 2015-16 and 31 more in 2016-17 before moving on from Kansas in April 2017. He never played a game for Arizona State, leaving the school in December 2017 before appearing in a regular-season contest. After that, the 6-foot-10, 225-pound Cleveland native landed at New Mexico, where he played 39 games over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, then launched a pro career that has taken him all over the map and will carry him to Hong Kong for the 2026-27 campaign.
“First year out I did Poland. Then I went to Turkey and Saudi Arabia. I’ve been a lot of places,” he stated.
His stops have also included Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Israel and Rwanda. Of all those places, Bragg singled out Turkey as the one that stood out most.
“I would say Turkey is my favorite,” Bragg said. “It was good.
My experience there was great. Great food, great environment.
It was good.”
Even with all that travel, coming back to Lawrence clearly meant something to him.
“It’s good to be back in Lawrence,” he added, indicating he’s enjoyed his return to play some summertime basketball.
“All the memories are coming back to me. Being in the gym, being around the guys, having some deep-fried (onion) rings again,” said Bragg, who left KU after being suspended twice his sophomore campaign. Until last week, he had not been back since his departure.
On the court, Bragg has been a useful piece for JHX Hoops. He hit a big 3 in the Elam Ending during KU’s Game 3 elimination win over Kansas State on Friday, and through three games he has totaled 15 points and nine rebounds while averaging 16 minutes a night.
His best outing came Friday against KSU’s Purple Reign, when he finished with seven points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. He also made his presence felt defensively, collecting six fouls while spending much of the game on Michael Beasley.
Bragg said his path back to a Kansas alumni team started with a few familiar voices.
“Frank Mason shouted out to me, reached out to me in Hong Kong. So did Jamari (Traylor),” Bragg said of being contacted by JHX squad members to play in the $2 million winner-take-all tourney.
“I thought it would be a good experience. It’s good to have people come back, good to have the team back together.”
The money mattered, too.
“The prize money also “plays a part in it,” he acknowledged. “Makes you want to play harder as well.”
Bragg said he came into the event determined to “play my heart out, going big, playing big, fighting hard, fighting for the blue.”
JHX Hoops now turns to a quarterfinal matchup with Wichita State’s AfterShocks at 8 p.m. Monday at Koch Arena in Wichita. A win would send the KU alumni team into a meeting with Kentucky’s alumni squad, La Familia, at a date and site still to be determined.
From there, the winner of that game would advance to face the winner of the independent six-team bracket in the TBT finals. The tournament includes eight alumni teams and six independent teams, and 61 teams took part a year ago.
Bragg believes KU has the kind of roster that can keep going.
“I feel we can make a big run. We can get the job done. We have all the pieces,” Bragg said.
He also made it clear that his bond with Kansas has never gone away.
“KU is at the top, absolutely always No. 1 for me,” Bragg said.
KU coach Sherron Collins sees a player who has changed, too.
“He’s in shape. Everybody’s in good shape on this team. He’s a pro, knows how to play basketball, wants to guard people and do what we need to do.”
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