photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Tyshawn Taylor, center, stands with Jamari Traylor, left, and Jordan Henriquez-Roberts and addresses campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign's summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC's campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. — A group of Kansas and Kansas State men’s basketball alumni passed on some of their hard-earned knowledge to a handful of young players as part of a skills camp on Tuesday morning.

As part of the first day of the camp, held in conjunction by The Basketball Tournament teams JHX Hoops and Purple Reign, former Jayhawk standout Tyshawn Taylor, JHX’s general manager, did his best to instill some core values in the gathered Kansas City-area kids at the Swinney Center.

“I’m in my coaching era, I guess, so I do this every day,” he told the Journal-World afterward. “And I think the main thing is to have positive attitudes and high energy, and if you’re going to compete in any sport or anything that you do in your life, to have those two attributes about you, and you’ll go a long way.”

The day was instructive not only for the children in attendance, however, but at least one of the former players.

Billy Preston, once a highly touted prospect from Los Angeles who went straight into his professional basketball career (after infamously never playing a game at KU), has started to think about what the future might hold for him in the world of coaching and training.

“It’s kind of recent,” he said. “I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do after I stopped hooping or what lane I wanted to get into, but I figure I put a lot into this game and (with) the knowledge that I gained from it, why not pass it on down to the younger generation to possibly help them with their careers?”

When he works with kids, Preston wants to stress to them that “it’ll definitely get harder as time goes on, as the competition gets tougher” and share key pieces of knowledge like the importance of being physical at a young age.

“Little things like that, that’ll just help them if they understand it now, it’ll go a long way for them … by the time they’re juniors or seniors in high school, they really got a pro game,” he said.

In the meantime, Preston can cultivate his own coaching knowledge at events like Tuesday’s, at which Cliff Alexander, Jamari Traylor and Kevin Young also helped out, along with a few Purple Reign team members and coaches.

“Just seeing Tyshawn and a couple other older dudes from K-State and Kansas, like KY, just work the kids out, I get to learn a little bit from them and just add to my experience a little bit,” he said. “But overall it was good. It was a good day.”

The group may not have been large in overall numbers, Taylor said, but it had plenty of energy. The original idea to hold a youth camp prior to TBT came about following the success of last year’s scrimmage at Johnson County Community College.

“We just thought that we could get the kids involved in it, so we thought about having a camp and we tried to make it work,” Taylor said. “Like I said, it wasn’t a big turnout, but I think as we continue to build it, it will be better.”

The camp continues on Wednesday at 10 a.m., and this year’s edition of the scrimmage follows on Thursday night, this time also at the Swinney Center, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

It’ll be an opportunity for fan interaction, but also the first chance for Taylor and head coach Sherron Collins to see their players in “kind of like a real, live setting,” Taylor said.

In terms of former KU players, the team, which has seen its roster undergo a slew of recent changes, currently includes Alexander, Preston, Taylor (as a possible player in addition to his role as GM), Traylor and Young, along with Nick Timberlake and Lagerald Vick. Zeke Mayo is set to join JHX Hoops after he concludes his stint with the Washington Wizards in the NBA Summer League (he did not play in their first two games).

Washburn guard Jacob Hanna is also featured on the roster, as are new additions Kelvin Amayo (Iona) and Marcus Bell (Stanislaus State).

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Kevin Young works with campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Kevin Young is pictured at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Tyshawn Taylor leads a drill at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Jamari Traylor works with campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Jamari Traylor is pictured at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Billy Preston works with campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Billy Preston is pictured at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Tyshawn Taylor dribbles between campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Tyshawn Taylor works with campers at JHX Hoops and Purple Reign’s summer skills camp at the Swinney Center on UMKC’s campus on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.