Travis Releford bought a 2008 Kansas University national champions T-shirt late last week at Kansas City International Airport before boarding a flight to Louisville, site of Saturday night’s Derby Classic All-Star basketball game.

“I thought I’d wear it during warmups,” Releford, a proud incoming KU freshman out of Roeland Park Miege, said Sunday after returning from Kentucky, where he scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and earned MVP honors after leading the Black team to a 128-121 victory over the Gold.

“(Then) I heard we were going to get introduced and run out of the tunnel so I came up with a different idea.”

That idea was to hold up the shirt to the 10,193 Freedom Hall fans during pregame introductions.

“If there were boos, there were not too many. They were clapping. They couldn’t say anything,” Releford joked of the fans, who had to be impressed with his 10-of-16 shooting (zero of two from three-point range) during the game.

Releford had a better offensive game than North Carolina signees Tyler Zeller (15 points) and Larry Drew (six); Louisville’s Terrence Jennings (10) and Jered Swopshire (seven); as well as Kentucky’s Darius Miles (six) and DeAndre Liggins (two). Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates had 19 points, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt 14 and Arizona’s Jeff Withey 10.

“It’s cool,” Releford said of being named MVP despite coming off the bench. “I was getting open looks to the basket and taking advantage. My teammates encouraged me to keep it up, saying I could get MVP and things like that.”

Releford admits he was hurt to be omitted from the McDonald’s All-America game roster.

“It was another thing that gave me the momentum to do what I did,” said Releford, snubbed despite averaging 24.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists for 19-3 Miege. Also, at the recent Albert Schweitzer Games, he averaged 17.8 points and 6.5 boards for the fourth-place United States Under 18 team. He had 30 points against Spain.

“I really feel I should have been,” he added of being a McDonald’s selection. “I have been having good summers and usually play well against the best competition.”

Releford has recovered from a deep thigh bruise he suffered in Germany.

“I got kneed in the thigh, and the swelling went to my knee,” Releford. “I’m OK now.”

Releford said that upon graduation he will be fully qualified academically to play at KU.

¢ KU signees shine: Incoming KU freshmen Marcus and Markieff Morris and Quintrell Thomas led the Suburban Stars over the New York Stars, 129-127, in the Jordan Brand Classic Regional all-star game Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Markieff, a 6-10, 220-pounder out of APEX Academies in Pennsauken, N.J., scored 16 points, including a three-pointer with :34 left that gave the Suburbans a 127-126 lead. Markieff hit six of 11 shots, including three of five threes. He had six rebounds and two steals.

His 6-8, 230-pound brother Marcus scored 20 points off 8-of-15 shooting. Marcus hit two of four threes with eight rebounds and three assists.

Thomas, 6-8, 225 out of St. Partrick High in Elizabeth, N.J., scored eight points off 3-of-6 shooting with six rebounds.

¢ Majok scores 14: Ater Majok, a 6-9 power forward from Sudan, was a teammate of Releford’s in Louisville. He scored 14 points off 6-of-10 shooting with five rebounds.

Majok has visited Maryland, Baylor and Kentucky and will visit Connecticut next weekend. He is pondering a final trip to Kansas or UCLA. Connecticut is believed to be the favorite.

“He was on my team. He’s pretty good. He shoots it a lot, (but) he made his shots,” Releford said, indicating he didn’t talk about recruiting with Majok over the weekend.