Self’s KU basketball Boot Camp begins: ‘Not our best but tomorrow will be better.’

Kansas’ 17 men’s basketball players joined head coach Bill Self as well as KU assistant coaches and student managers in the Jayhawks’ practice facility adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse between 6 and 7 a.m., Monday for the start of Self’s 20th-annual Boot Camp conditioning program.

“We got through it. Everyone finished,” Self said in a text message to The Star after Monday’s hour-long conditioning session. The workout included players jumping rope as well as taking part in sprints, backboard touches and defensive slides. There was constant movement for an hour with no basketballs in sight.

“Not our best but tomorrow will be better,” Self added, looking ahead to Tuesday’s session.

Boot Camp will continue through Friday, then the Jayhawks will take the weekend off. They’ll return to the gym Monday Sept. 19, for anywhere between three to five more days of Boot Camp.

KU junior point guard Dajuan Harris responded to a Boot Camp Twitter post of assistant coach Jeremy Case, by Tweeting, “I was up (out of bed for first session).”

Former KU guard Merv Lindsay wrote a post on Twitter responding to the link to a Kansas City Star story on Boot Camp, writing, “My favorite part (of being a Jayhawk).”

Frank Mason III wins bronze at AmeriCup

Former Kansas guard Frank Mason III on Sunday was awarded a bronze medal after helping Team USA to a third-place finish at the AmeriCup tournament in Brazil. Argentina beat Brazil in Sunday’s gold medal game, 75-73.

Mason, a 28-year-old NBA free agent, scored nine points on 2-of-9 shooting (1-of-3 threes, 4-of-4 from line) with four rebounds and three assists in Team USA’s 84-80 victory over Canada, Sunday in the event’s bronze medal game. Mason, who averaged 6.7 points and 2.3 assists per game in six games, started and played 23 minutes for the United States.

After losing to Mexico in the first game of the tournament, the U.S. won four of its final five games to win its ninth AmeriCup medal.

Mason now figures to sign a free agent training camp deal with an NBA team or head overseas. There had been rumors before the tournament he was about to sign with Greek professional league team AEK Athens.

Svi’s Team Ukraine loses in Round of 16

Poland defeated former KU guard Svi Mykhailiuk’s Team Ukraine, 94-86, on Sunday in a Round of 16 EuroBasket tournament game in Berlin, Germany.

Mykhailiuk, a 6-foot-8, 25-year-old shooting guard, scored 12 points in the loss that prevented Ukraine from reaching the quarterfinals.

Svi and his teammates had trained in several countries around Europe throughout the summer. They couldn’t work out in Ukraine because of the war prompted by Russia’s invasion in February.

According to ESPN.com, games have been aired throughout Ukraine during EuroBasket.

“I hope it inspires and helps them (natives of Ukraine) a lot, just to get their thoughts off the war a little bit and just watch us play,” Mykhailiuk told ESPN.com. “Obviously, today was not a great example of us playing, but this whole time, we did our best. I hope they enjoyed it. Obviously, it’s tough for everybody because all the guys’ families are still there and it’s tough having to be here. But I appreciate everyone being here. I appreciate everyone fighting. It was tough, but we did what we did,” Mykhailiuk added. “I think we did more than everybody expected us to do.”

Mykhailiuk averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the six tourney games. He hit 40% of his shots and 34.1% of his threes (14-of- 41). Mykhailiuk is an NBA free agent after recently being waived by the Toronto Raptors.

Hoopsrumors.com has offered an update on Mykhailiuk’s plans. They cited a report of international basketball reporter Christos Tsaltas.

“Mykhailiuk’s top priority as a free agent is finding another NBA team,” Tsaltas indicated. “If he’s unable to find a roster spot, Mykhailiuk hasn’t ruled out a G League stint with the goal of returning to the NBA. Mykhailiuk is drawing interest from European clubs, but is focused on the NBA and isn’t expected to consider a return to Europe until he exhausts all NBA possibilities.”