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

Former Kansas player Zeke Mayo looks for an open teammate during a scrimmage against Kansas State alumni at the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, July 17, 2025.

Kansas City, Mo. — Less than 24 hours after he took the floor for the Washington Wizards in an NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas, Zeke Mayo made it halfway across the country to take part in an entirely different exhibition contest.

He joined the Kansas alumni team JHX Hoops as part of its starting lineup for its scrimmage against Kansas State alumni squad Purple Reign, ahead of the start of The Basketball Tournament.

“First flight this morning, man,” he said. “Six a.m.”

Mayo scored six straight points as part of a 10-0 run that put JHX Hoops ahead early in the fourth quarter and ultimately hit the final game-winning free throw as part of TBT’s patented Elam Ending format. He scored 13 points as JHX claimed a 78-72 victory at the Swinney Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“Honestly, to tell you the truth, I hate to win it on a free throw, but sometimes it goes like that,” Mayo said.

Mayo described his stint in the Summer League with the Washington Wizards as an ultimately fun experience but one with plenty of ups and downs. He said he’s now considering options to potentially play professionally overseas and will make a decision within the next month.

In any event, JHX Hoops coach Sherron Collins was one of many wearing crimson and blue who were happy to have Mayo back.

“Super exciting,” he told the Journal-World. “And we all found that out at the same time, so I think excitement went through our whole group this morning. He brings us another layer of scoring … We need him for sure and it’s going to be big to have him.”

Mayo, for his part, added that “any time you can beat the purple, it feels good,” and noted that the rival squads could potentially have a rematch on Monday night if they each win their first-round games on Saturday. JHX Hoops will start by taking on OffDaHook at 3 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.

Preston led the KU alumni with 16 points, while Nick Timberlake and Lagerald Vick chipped in a dozen each.

Timberlake was at the center of plenty of action during what turned into a contentious Elam Ending, as he scored five of the eight points JHX needed. JHX entered the Elam Ending ahead 70-66 with a target score of 78, and the intensity between the two teams ratcheted up considerably as they vied for the most pivotal baskets of the entire scrimmage.

After Purple Reign drew close on a 3-pointer by Jacob Pullen, Timberlake found wide-open space in the paint to put JHX ahead 75-72 (though the scoreboard read 76-72 at the time). Then, after a jump-ball call on Purple Reign’s next possession, the game paused for an extended stretch as the two teams tried to puzzle through the rules of the Elam Ending, with both squads lobbying the referees for possession and the scoreboard operators for points.

“That’s what it’s here for, though,” Collins said afterward. “That’s why we try to do these scrimmages so we can understand it and get an understanding of it — and it was still a little bit confusing to us.”

Timberlake scored once again on a putback and almost had the game-winner on another one, but the officials ruled that Mayo had been fouled on the miss that Timberlake put back in, meaning Mayo went to the line instead and ended up sealing the result.

JHX had nearly run away with the game early on.

In the first quarter, a three-point play on an aggressive drive by Vick helped JHX jump ahead 7-3 early, and Jamari Traylor provided a short-range jumper and a layup off the bench to force a timeout by Purple Reign with the KU alumni ahead 15-7.

The former Wildcats responded and nearly shut out JHX for the remainder of the first quarter, but Mayo rattled in an off-balance shot from the low block at the buzzer to make it 17-11, and Kevin Young scored first in the second quarter with a left-wing 3-pointer.

Purple Reign cut its deficit to two points on a pair of occasions, then to one point on back-to-back buckets by Austin Trice. JHX Hoops fell behind, briefly retook the lead when Timberlake finished a lob from Mayo, and then ended up trailing by its largest deficit thus far — three points — at the break after a shot from the corner by Cartier Diarra, with Purple Reign up 38-35.

Trice drove to the hoop for a pair of thunderous dunks in quick succession, and Diarra made an athletic move in the lane to extend the margin to seven points in Purple Reign’s favor. Preston was the only JHX player to score in the quarter until Vick made it 51-45 on a stepback 3 and halted the K-State alumni’s momentum.

The KSU team maintained its lead, but the former Wildcats lost their hot shooting touch, and a three-point play by Preston cut the margin to two points at the end of the third quarter.

Recent Washburn standout Jacob Hanna made his JHX debut at the start of the fourth and provided a spark. After Mayo’s three-point play off an inbounds pass and pull-up 3 from the left wing, Hanna scored twice inside to complete the pivotal run of 10 straight points that made it 65-60 and forced a timeout by Purple Reign. The KSU alumni got closest on Pullen’s 3 during the Elam Ending but never led again.

JHX is still waiting on the last few members of its team to arrive, which Collins said will happen on Friday. The KU alumni played on Thursday night without late additions Kelvin Amayo, Marcus Bell and Darnell Jackson.