photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Former members of the Kansas and Kansas State basketball team pose for a photo after a scrimmage at Johnson County Community College on Wednesday, July 17th, 2024, in Overland Park.

This summer’s Kansas alumni team in The Basketball Tournament will have the opportunity to play even closer to home than its predecessors.

TBT announced on Tuesday morning that this year’s KU team — newly rebranded as JHX (pronounced “Jayhawks”) Hoops — and its Kansas State counterpart Purple Reign will co-host regional competition at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.

The regional, the first of its kind in Kansas City, will take place from July 18-23. Each of the past two years, the KU team (previously known as Mass Street) played at Charles Koch Arena and reached the Round of 16 but failed to advance out of Wichita.

Last year’s edition of the team was organized by Tyshawn Taylor, coached by Sherron Collins and led by players like Frank Mason, Dedric Lawson and Billy Preston. The KU alumni led Team Colorado by 11 points in the Round of 16 but surrendered their advantage and missed four potential game-winning 3-pointers before losing 84-81.

Taylor is again the general manager of this year’s team, which is also organized by Stephanie Temple (who has been involved for multiple years) and Scott “Scooter” Ward, who works in student-athlete development at KU.

“We’re excited that TBT has decided to make both Kansas City and JHX Hoops a regional host,” Taylor said in a TBT press release. “Expanding to Kansas City allows us to interact with more KU fans, and gives them a chance to experience the excitement of TBT. We plan to assemble a great team Jayhawks fans will be eager to see this July.”

The team that wins the TBT championship on Aug. 3 gets a $1 million prize. New for 2025, regional host teams can theoretically play on their home court for all six rounds of the tournament if they continue winning. If two regional hosts advance, the team that sells $4,000 tickets more quickly gets to play at home, according to the press release.

The KU and K-State alumni met in a scrimmage at Johnson County Community College prior to the start of the 2024 tournament, though they did not face off in the actual competition itself.

“We are excited to bring TBT to Kansas City and Municipal Auditorium for the first time,” TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar said in the release. “Kansas and Kansas State fans have always been among the most passionate in TBT.”

This will be the fourth KU alumni team in TBT overall. A team called Self Made had an ill-fated entry in 2019 before the Mass Street teams in 2023 (sponsored by the now-defunct NIL collective of the same name) and 2024 (sponsored by The Good Game).