Blue squad comes from behind to top Red alums, 91-76, at Bill Self basketball camp

By Matt Tait     Jun 12, 2013

Here’s a video of highlights from the scrimmage, taken by Jesse Newell:

http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2013/jun/12/35807/

And here are Nick Krug’s photos of the action:

**FINAL: Blue 91, Red 76**

Thanks to a big second half, freshman forward Brannen Greene led all scorers with 21 points in the Blue’s come-from-behind victory over the alums.

Tyshawn Taylor added 19 points and Sherron Collins 16 for the Red, while Perry Ellis chipped in 14, Landen Lucas and Conner Frankamp added 12 apiece and Jamari Traylor added 11 for the Blue squad.

Gary Bedore will have much more on the camp and the scrimmage in Thursday’s Journal-World.

**4:27 p.m. Update:**

The shooting clinic continues as players in both colors of jerseys are knocking in three-pointers on both ends and Blue leads Red 71-69 with 3:20 remaining.

Perry Ellis also drilled a three and darn near everybody but some of the walk-ons have nailed three-pointers in this game today. Incredible to see the shooting display they’re putting on. It’s like San Antonio studs Danny Green and Gary Neal are in the building.

**4:24 p.m. Update:**

Brady Morningstar shows he can still play a little D, staying with Frank Mason on a drive to the hole and then swatting a lay-up attempt. Evan Manning and Tyler Self got the Free State connection going on a couple of three-pointers and the Blue squad has taken the lead, 64-62, after a three-point play by Frank Mason.

6:45 to play.

**4:21 p.m. Update:**

Just as one of our commenters asked whether Perry Ellis was playing, the sophomore forward connected on the finishing end of an alley-oop to pull the Blue within seven points. Tarik Black followed with a steal and dunk in transition and the current squad pulls to within five at 60-55, with 9:04 left.

Timeout Red.

**4:19 p.m. Update:**

Blue had pulled to within six on a Wayne Selden three but Taylor answered it on the other end and then got to the free throw line to put Red up double digits.

Red 60, Blue 49, 10:43 to play…

**4:17 p.m. Update:**

Tharpe three-pointer (his first) pulls Blue to within seven at 51-44 early 2nd half.

**4:14 p.m. Update:**

Second half under way. Blue ball.

**HALFTIME at the CAMP SCRIMMAGE:**

Red alums lead Blue current players 43-39 at the break.

Here’s a quick look at the first-half scoring leaders:

*Blue:*

Conner Frankamp 12
Tarik Black 8
Jamari Traylor 7

*Red:*

Sherron Collins 8
Landen Lucas 8
Tyshawn Taylor 8

**4:10 p.m. Update:**

Even big man Joel Embiid got in on the fun, knocking down a three-pointer from the top of the key and then knocking on his head all the way back to the other end. (No idea why!)

Red leads Blue 43-39 late in the 1st half.

**4:06 p.m. Update:**

It’s become a three-point contest here in the gym as Tyrel Reed just got in on the act and Conner Frankamp hit his third triple in limited minutes.

Impressive stroke.

Red leads Blue, 34-27 with 5 minutes to play in the 1st half.

**4:04 p.m. Update:**

Mario Little with a couple of threes for the Red squad and Landen Lucas has added a couple of easy dunks.

Red leads 31-24 with 6:00 left in the 1st.

Conner Frankamp hit his first two three-pointers — one from deep with Jeff Hawkins up on him — and Jamari Traylor also threw in a three-pointer and looked surprisingly good doing it.

**4:01 p.m. Update:**

Red has stormed back behind a three-pointer and a couple of sweet dishes from Taylor and now leads Blue 14-10 with 9:29 left in the first half.

First substitutions of the game have been made.

Frankamp, Garrett and Mason in for Blue and Little, Reed, Lucas and Hawkins in for Red.

**3:58 p.m. Update:**

Blue leads Red early, 8-5, and there have been a few noteworthy things early.

Naadir Tharpe looks bigger and is wearing No. 10 now (instead of No. 1). Wayne Selden wears No. 1 and he’s got an incredible frame and some crazy athleticism.

Sherron looks to be in the best shape he’s been in in a while and it shows in his game.

And, as advertised, Tarik Black takes up a lot of space and is tough for smaller bodies to handle.

It’s also been pretty fun to watch Tharpe and Taylor guard each other… Former teammates who participated in an unofficial passing of the torch at the PG spot.

**3:54 p.m. Update:**

Warm-ups are finished and it’s time to go. A few nice dunks from Traylor, Selden and Mason in the warm-up but the highlight was Tyshawn Taylor tossing the ball to the other end from beyond halfcourt and watching it bounce in off the floor from just inside the free throw line. The campers went nuts.

Here we go.

**3:48 p.m. Update:**

A copule of the current players went to join the Red squad to help out down low. Joel Embiid, Landon Lucas and Justin Wesley are playing for the Red. So, too, are Christian Garrett and Niko Roberts.

**3:45 p.m. Update:**

Self saved the newcomers for last and they all got pretty good ovations after Self called them “one of the best recruiting classes we’ve had here.”

As for the returning guys, Jamari Traylor got by far the biggest cheer from the campers when Self introduced him.

About game time. Brady Morningstar has also joined the Red squad.

Tyshawn probably got the biggest cheer of all, which makes sense seeing how he’s a current NBA guy. One more interesting note: Tyrel Reed is wearing the blue adidas camo game shorts that created such a stir last March.

9 minutes to tip.

**3:41 p.m. Update:**

Bill Self introducing his current players. Sherron Collins and Mario Little have since filed in. Current guys will wear Blue and the alums will wear Red. More to come…

**3:37 p.m. Update:**

Camp game is over and the current squad is now warming up. Haven’t seen too many alums yet. Jeff Hawkins, Tyshawn Taylor and Tyrel Reed so far. We’ll keep adding to the list as the players file in.

**3:30 p.m. Update:**

The camp counselors are currently putting it to the campers. Of course, they do have former KU women’s player Carolyn Davis on the squad, so that helps.

**3:23 p.m. Update:**

Camp game still going on, but we just heard some more news of interest. Andrew White III will not play in today’s scrimmage because of a sprained knee. Gary Bedore, the writer not the doctor, says he was told it’s nothing serious but White will not play today.

Stay tuned…

**3:09 p.m. Update**

Just got word from KU that Andrew Wiggins will not be in attendance today. The wait continues, but he is working his way to town and is still expected to arrive sometime this week.

Coaches talking to the campers right now. Then there’s a quick manager vs. campers game and then the main event.

Keep it right here.

**Original post:**

It’s that time of year again, time for the annual Bill Self basketball camps to dominate Lawrence’s hoops scene for a few weeks.

Every summer, Self, with the help of current and former Jayhawks, welcomes hundreds of young hoopers to town for several days of instruction, entertainment and, of course, autographs.

In addition to featuring the fundamentals of basketball and some of the ins and outs of the KU program, the camps often include some of the more entertaining alumni games in college basketball.

Today, sometime after 3 p.m., will be the first such game and its lineup figures to be as impressive as any we’ve seen in a while thanks to its proximity to the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic, which is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night at Free State High.

Each year that game, which, in the past, has included a ton of big names from KU history, treats fans to a fun night of good memories and laughable moments. With a lot of those guys being in town for that game tomorrow night, it ought to be interesting to see how many of them make it to today’s camp game, which usually pits the current crew against the alums.

We’ll be up there throughout the afternoon to keep you updated on who made it to camp and I’ll also be doing a live blog of the camp scrimmage, while Gary Bedore tracks down past greats for interviews, Tom Keegan scours the room for column ideas and Jesse Newell shoots video highlights which he’ll post on the site as soon as possible.

The latest reports from Twitter say that Andrew Wiggins, the top recruit in the class who recently chose KU over both Kentucky and North Carolina, is expected to be on campus sometime today. That word supposedly is coming from his father. But whether that means he’ll be in town in time to be at camp or if he’ll be able to play even if he is there in time, remains to be seen.

Be sure to check back around 3 p.m. for all the fun.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.