Jayhawks returning to area to compete in BIG3 and TBT
LAWRENCE, Kan. – A number of former Kansas men’s basketball will be in the area for the upcoming BIG3 in Kansas City, Missouri, and The Basketball Tournament (TBT) regional action in Wichita.
Jayhawks Drew Gooden, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright compete in the BIG3 and will be at Sprint Center, Saturday, July 20, with games starting at 2 p.m. (Central). The BIG3 is a professional 3-on-3 basketball league that was founded in 2017. The league consists of 12 teams and this weekend six teams will compete in Kansas City on Saturday, July 20 and the other six in Oklahoma City July 21.
Gooden, the 2002 NABC National Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year, plays for 3’s Company (1-3) who will be playing in the first game Saturday, July 20, against Bivouac (2-2). Wright’s team, Power (3-1), will be featured in the second game Saturday against league leader Triplets (4-0). Wright was a 2007 All-Big 12 First Team selection and was a member of the 2006 Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Chalmers plays for 3 Headed Monster (2-2), who will be featured in the third game Saturday against Tri-State (1-3).
Two-time KU All-American and Kansas City native Brandon Rush also plays in the BIG3 for Aliens (1-3). Rush will be competing in Oklahoma City July 21. The BIG3 season runs through Sept. 1. BIG3 contests on CBS or the CBS Sports Network.
Former KU guard Elijah Johnson has put together a team of Jayhawks called Self Made to compete in TBT, a 64-team, single-elimination tournament for $2 million.
Joining Johnson on the Self Made roster is Darrell Arthur (2007-08 at KU), Jeremy Case (2004, 2006-08), Perry Ellis (2013-16), Darnell Jackson (2005-08), Mario Little (2009-11), Landen Lucas (2014-17), Travis Releford (2009-13), Tyshawn Taylor (2009-12) and Kevin Young (2012-13). Arthur, Case and Jackson were members of KU’s 2008 NCAA National Championship team, while Johnson, Releford, Taylor and Young were on KU’s 2012 NCAA runner-up squad. Lucas played in two NCAA Tournament Elite Eights while at Kansas and Ellis ranks ninth on the KU career scoring list with 1,768 points.
Self Made will begin play in the eight-team Wichita regional July 25-28, at Koch Arena. Self Made is the No. 3 seed in Wichita and will face No. 6 seed Sideline Cancer, July 25, at 6 p.m. (Central). Should Self Made advance, it would play Saturday, July 27, at 3 p.m. and the regional finals will be July 28 at 3 p.m. with all three contests being televised on ESPN. The winner of the Wichita regional, along with the other seven region winners, will compete in the TBT finals, Aug. 1-6, in Chicago.
