For three straight summers, Kansas alumni have come into The Basketball Tournament with real belief and left with the same empty feeling. The former Jayhawks have been knocked out in the Round of 16 in each of the last three years, and last summer’s loss stung especially hard after JHX Hoops gave away an eight-point fourth-quarter lead before former Miami (Ohio) guard Eric Washington hit the game-winner.
Now the prize is bigger - $2 million instead of $1 million - and JHX Hoops is turning to a familiar closer to try to finish the job.
Mario Chalmers is finally making his TBT debut.
The Kansas alumni team opens Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Kansas State’s Alumni TBT squad, Purple Reign, in a Sunflower Showdown matchup that sends JHX into enemy territory. But Chalmers said the opponent was not what pushed him to play, and neither was the chance to line up against former NBA and BIG3 teammate Michael Beasley.
When asked whether Beasley’s decision influenced him, Chalmers laughed and said, “No, absolutely not,”
For Chalmers, the pull has always been Kansas. He won a championship there, started his family there and said he will always be a KU guy.
But this run is about something deeper, too: a promise made to Dr. Scott Ward.
“The main motivation to play this year was Dr. (Scott) Ward,” Chalmers told The Star.
“Scoot was always trying to get me to play in TBT. I always told him that I would, and it never worked out.
He unfortunately passed away before I could.
“So this is my tribute to him.”
Ward, who began serving as an academic advisor for Kansas men’s basketball in 2003, died in January after struggling to recover from major surgery in December. People around the program say his influence reached far beyond academics. To many Jayhawks, he was a mentor, a father figure and the connective tissue that tied different eras together.
“He was the guy for us,” JHX assistant general manager and former KU point guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “He pretty much helped all of us graduate from college.
But he was more than that. He’s the one that connected all the generations.
Our TBT team wouldn’t be possible without him. He was the glue for us.”
Taylor said Ward helped bring together former Jayhawks from different eras, including Chalmers, Frank Mason and Marcus Garrett. He also helped raise money and secure donations through the relationships he built over more than 20 years at Kansas.
“He was a huge part of this s-,” Taylor said. “He really devoted his time to it when he had so much other stuff going on. We love him, we respect him, and we all want to play for him.
“When we lace them up, it’s gonna for sure be with a purpose outside of just winning some bread.”
That purpose now comes with Chalmers as the late-game option the Jayhawks have been missing. Taylor said the former Kansas star still gives the team a trusted shot-maker when the pressure rises.
“He’s still able to be a guy who we go to late in the game when we need a bucket,” Taylor said. “I don’t know that we will have to depend on him every time because we have guys like Frank, Jacob (Hanna) and me. We have four guards that can control the game and handle pressure.
“But when we need a bucket or a big shot, I think we all know where that ball is gonna go.”
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