17th annual Roundball Classic featured firsts on and off the court

Oliver Combes makes his way to the court through a gauntlet of high fives from Kansas players past and present on Thursday, July 10, 2025 during the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic at Free State High School. Combes is a beneficiary of the Roundball Classic. Photo by Nick Krug
As organizers of the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic continue to stress, the event’s focus will always be on children battling cancer, and indeed it featured six primary beneficiaries in Thursday night’s edition.
But in its 17th year, the event expanded for the first time to benefit a parent dealing with the disease, Kristi McAlister of Lawrence. She received a check for $25,000 midway through the charity basketball game at Free State High School as part of the newly installed Yvonne Adams Legacy Fund, named for the late mother of former KU basketball forward KJ Adams and conceived also funded by Kent and Missy McCarthy.
Yvonne died of cancer in November 2023. Her widower Kevin and son KJ both helped select McAlister for the award.
“It was amazing,” KJ Adams said after the conclusion of Thursday night’s game. “It’s very emotional when you go through that personally and then you see someone that’s doing the same thing. It’s really good to see that and be part of it.”
He said McAlister was selected for her resilience and also because “you can tell someone genuine by just looking and reading about them.”
McAlister and the event’s six featured children — Tyson Barnett, 15, of Kinsley; Oliver Combes, 6, of Overbrook; Jaxson Kress, 10, of Webb City, Missouri; Ty’Nia Parker, 12, of Kansas City, Kansas; Ezra Talkington, 3, of Salina; and Taygan Teneyck, 10, of Silver Lake — took center stage on a night when three finalists for the Adams fund also received $2,000 apiece and seven “future star” children garnered $1,000 apiece. Twenty more kids will attend sporting events throughout the year and receive $5,000 each as part of the Roundball Classic’s year-round benevolence fund.
In the meantime, there was, as always, a star-studded basketball game played by a motley crew of former Kansas greats. Center Udoka Azubuike was his usual dominant self and the biggest star of all on Thursday, as he scored a game-high 29 points for the red team, which won 92-78.
Azubuike was backed up by a quartet of double-digit scorers in Devonte’ Graham (16), Mitch Lightfoot (14), Michael Lee (11) and Svi Mykhailiuk (10). Chris Teahan, who drained four 3s in quick succession after the blue team had fallen behind by 19, led his losing squad with 14 points.
Former national championship hero David McCormack, who scored a dozen on the night, made two early 3-pointers for the blue team, exceeding his career total with the Jayhawks. The center, who currently plays professionally in Germany and will soon lead the JHX Hoops KU alumni team into The Basketball Tournament, performed well early, but even so the red squad jumped out to an early 15-point lead at 26-11 by the first timeout.
“It’s the camaraderie, it’s great community, a lot of alumni, former teammates,” McCormack said of the event. “Lawrence comes out and it’s all for a great cause.”
Ron Kellogg scored twice to help kick-start a run of 13 straight points and bring the blue team within two, but Azubuike, who had six dunks and 14 points in the first half alone (and then threw home an alley-oop from McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald during philanthropic halftime festivities), scored back-to-back buckets to help restore a double-digit lead for his team. A pair of 3-pointers by Graham briefly made it a 15-point margin, but the red team led just 46-36 at the half.
Along the way, the blue team’s coaching staff engaged in some light shenanigans.
Head coach Greg Ostertag made a show of quibbling with the official and getting ejected, replaced by new participant Jerod Haase, only to reemerge as a referee himself in the second half. (“This is truly a Roundball Classic first,” organizer Brian Hanni said. “… If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”) At one point he assessed Azubuike with a technical foul for hanging on the rim too long and later he charged beneficiary Kress, who scored seven total points while playing extensively for both teams, with another foul for arguing with him.
The outcome of the game, what little meaning it may have held, was never really in doubt. Kellogg hit a 3-pointer to bring his team within single digits at 64-55, but Azubuike scored twice more and Mykhailiuk and Parker Braun drained 3s for a 10-0 run. Teahan’s late surge was for naught and by the end of the game, Tyshawn Taylor’s son and Travis Releford’s son were seeing action (and getting on the score sheet) for the blue team.