Mass Street, the Kansas alumni team taking part in The Basketball Tournament for the second year in a row, will play a preliminary game against a group of Kansas State alumni as it prepares for TBT.
Mass Street will take on Purple Reign at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 at Johnson County Community College, three days before both teams open up TBT in Wichita, in what the teams are calling the “Wheat State Summer Showdown.”
Tickets for the game are available on the website for Urban Village Outreach, which on its website touts a sponsorship of Purple Reign. Mass Street is sponsored by The Good Game this year as the Mass St. Collective name, image and likeness organization has scaled back its involvement considerably.
Mass Street’s first-round matchup on July 20 is against Colorado State alumni team Ram Up, while Purple Reign (formerly known as Purple & Black) will take on Team Colorado.
The Mass Street roster has undergone some recent changes with the addition of Sam Cunliffe as a player and Sherron Collins as a head coach; the rest of the listed roster currently features Silvio De Sousa, Dedric Lawson, Mario Little, Frank Mason III, Malik Newman, Thomas Robinson, Jamari Traylor, Lagerald Vick and Kevin Young, as well as general manager Travis Releford. Tyshawn Taylor acts as another organizer.
Meanwhile, Purple Reign includes Yor Anei, Devon Baulkman, Cartier Diarra, Justin Edwards, Dajuan Gordon, Stephen Hurt, Abayomi Iyiola, DJ Johnson, Tariq Owens, Jacob Pullen, Xavier Sneed, Delano Spencer, Kamau Stokes and Khalid Thomas, with Jordan Henriquez-Roberts as head coach and GM. Curtis Kelly and Clent Stewart are assistant coaches.
The Kansas State team has an all-time TBT record of 5-7, while Mass Street is 2-1 after concluding its lone run in the third round last season.
The two teams could have a chance to play again on July 24 if they each win their first two games.
Mass Street will also host an open practice at 3705 Clinton Parkway in Lawrence on July 18 at 11 a.m.
Mark Kuhlmann/TBT
