K-State basketball alumni team is ready for TBT. Another goal? Bring games to Bramlage

Purple and Black, the Kansas State alumni team for “The Basketball Tournament,” held an open practice at Olathe West High School on Saturday in preparation for the upcoming winner-take-all $1 million event.

Mike McGuirl, Kamau Stokes, D.J. Johnson and Thomas Gipson were among those on hand to scrimmage and sign autographs. Their TBT Round of 64 matchup, against DaGuys STL, is set for 6 p.m. on July 20 at Wichita State’s Charles Koch Arena.

“We don’t have everybody here today, but man, with our overall roster depth, I’m really excited for our guys to be here and go and get a chance to win a million dollars,” head coach and general manager Jordan Henriquez-Roberts told The Star before practice.

Jacob Pullen, though not at the practice Saturday, returns as the roster headliner after hitting one of TBT’s most memorable Elam-Ending shots in its brief history last year. His three-pointer from the logo closed out Purple and Black’s 75-73 win over the Lone Star Legends in Round 1.

Purple and Black was ultimately bounced from the 2022 tournament by North Texas alumni team Bleed Green in the Round of 32.

Appearing on Inside TBT — the tournament’s in-house podcast — in March, Pullen said he was hopeful of adding Michael Beasley — who was on the team for 2022 but never played — and Barry Brown Jr., among others, to bolster the 2023 roster.

That didn’t work out, as Brown is playing in the NBA Summer League with the Phoenix Suns and Beasley opted to play in BIG3 again this summer given the guaranteed money, Henriquez-Roberts said.

While Pullen teased on the podcast potential additions of recent K-State stars Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson, Henriquez-Roberts said he didn’t pursue the aspiring NBA players.

“Hopefully they have a long career, and then if they don’t, they’re always welcome,” Henriquez-Roberts joked.

Purple and Black did, however, get Stokes and Henry “Bill” Walker off Pullen’s wish list, as well as one of Nowell and Johnson’s recent teammates. Desi Sills, who averaged 8.7 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Wildcats last season, was added to the team on Friday.

“I know he’s in a situation where he’s trying to work his way up, so just for him to be a part (of the team) and take the time to take part in TBT is an honor,” Henriquez-Roberts said.

TBT at Bramlage Coliseum?

Pullen’s expressed hope of loading up the Purple and Black roster was partly contingent on the allure of playing TBT games at K-State’s Bramlage Coliseum, which may soon be getting a new name. Henriquez-Roberts said there haven’t been any serious conversations about that opportunity just yet.

“I mentioned it to (TBT) last summer, (that) we would be open to doing that, becoming a sub-regional,” Henriquez-Roberts said. “Wichita is their big money grabber, so it would be great for us to get a four-team mini tournament in Bramlage in Manhattan and then work our way to Wichita.

“Just for the fans (and) our guys that played here in the past, they get a chance to come back and play in Bramlage — I think a lot more guys will be sold on coming back. … Aside from the younger guys, it gives our veteran guys a chance to come back, bring their families to Manhattan, show their kids and wives where they put on for.”

Henriquez-Roberts said he doesn’t think Manhattan’s position as a smaller market than Wichita would inhibit TBT’s interest.

“TBT is branching out a lot,” Henriquez-Roberts said. “For them to (have a regional in) Lubbock, Texas, I think that was a good eye opener there to hopefully open that door for us to be in Bramlage in the future.”

And for a good cause...

Purple and Black has a goal during this TBT run of supporting homeless veterans.

D.J. Johnson is executive director of a foundation called Urban Village Outreach, which says it serves to “revitalize communities and neighborhoods in the Greater St. Louis Area.”

His organization is partnering with Purple and Black and accepting donations to help pay for “our team’s participation in the tournament, including travel expenses, accommodations, equipment, and training,” according to its website.

Additionally, 15% of any donations made to Purple and Black will go to Urban Village Outreach partner Claxton Collaborative to help it renovate a “fourplex” for homeless veterans in St. Louis.