Kansas basketball headed to Orlando in November

By Matt Tait     May 20, 2021

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot (44) and Kansas guard Dajuan Harris (3) help Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) off the floor after Braun took a charge during the first half, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas men’s basketball program is headed to Disney World for Thanksgiving.

Sort of.

KU announced on Thursday that the Jayhawks are one of eight teams who will play in the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational — previously known as the Orlando Invitational — on Nov. 25-28 at HP Field House at ESPN World of Sports near Orlando.

KU played in, and won, the event in 2014, knocking off Michigan State in the championship game.

Pairings for the event have not yet been released, but the Jayhawks will be joined at the tourney by Alabama, Belmont, Dayton, Drake, Iona, Miami (Fla.) and North Texas.

The tournament will feature a bracket format with 12 games over three days. Each team will compete in one game per day regardless of results. A full bracket and schedule of games will be made available at a later date.

Of the eight teams in the field, five reached the 2021 NCAA Tournament and three (No. 5 KU, No. 8 Alabama and No. 23 Belmont) are ranked in ESPN.com’s “Way Too Early Top 25.”

Travel and ticket information for the tournament will be available at a later date.

Kansas coach Bill Self will be taking a team to the event that features 10 newcomers — five transfers and five from the prep ranks, including one preferred walk-on.

While that figures to give the Jayhawks a new look for the 2021-22 season, KU also will be returning several familiar faces in 2020-21 starters Christian Braun and David McCormack, along with reserves Dajuan Harris and Mitch Lightfoot.

Fellow-starters Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson, along with new commitment Remy Martin, an Arizona State transfer, are currently testing their NBA draft status and may or may not be a part of the trip. That trio has until July 7 to decide whether to stay in the draft or return to KU for the 2021-22 season.

The rest of KU’s non-conference schedule is expected to be released in the near future. The Big 12 slate will be released sometime in late summer.

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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.