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

Former Kansas players Tyshawn Taylor and Sherron Collins watch on during a scrimmage against Kansas State alumni at the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, July 17, 2025.

It’s been a quieter-than-usual month of July for JHX Hoops ahead of The Basketball Tournament.

The events that have dotted the dog days of summer in recent years — a meet-and-greet, a camp, an open practice, a scrimmage — have been largely absent this time around in the lead-up to the Kansas alumni team’s best-of-three series with Kansas State alumni squad Purple Reign. That begins on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum, with a second game at Lee Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday and a third if necessary on Friday at 8 p.m. back in Manhattan.

While it may not have been quite as public a process as usual, JHX Hoops has assembled what at least looks to be a strong roster. It is certainly making full use of the maximum four non-alumni players — a new rule implemented for alumni teams this summer — but has brought together perhaps the best backcourt in the five years of KU alumni rosters in TBT with Marcus Garrett, Frank Mason III, Zeke Mayo, newest addition Mario Chalmers and more.

The questions will be in the frontcourt, where JHX will be relying on a somewhat undersized group that largely consists of power forwards. Thomas Robinson is no longer listed on the online roster and efforts to recruit Udoka Azubuike don’t seem to have borne fruit.

Here’s a closer look at the wide-ranging group that makes up the 2026 JHX Hoops roster, with special attention paid to the new additions. The team is as usual coached by Sherron Collins and managed by Tyshawn Taylor and Stephanie Temple.

Carlton Bragg: The Cleveland native spent two seasons in Lawrence, primarily as a reserve. As a sophomore the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds, but he was also plagued by off-the-court issues (a battery charge was dropped and he was granted diversion for a possession of drug paraphernalia charge). After a brief stint at Arizona State, Bragg went to New Mexico, where he averaged a double-double during his senior year through early January but was removed from the team following a DWI arrest. Bragg has played internationally for six years, including most recently in Kosovo.

DJ Burns: Not to be confused with the former N.C. State forward, this DJ Burns has tallied 4.4 points and 3.4 boards per game in eight appearances for the Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. The 6-foot-7 forward from New Orleans played at Southern, Murray State and Youngstown State over five seasons of college basketball, starting all 98 games over his final three years, and averaging 13.1 points and 11.0 rebounds as a fifth-year senior for the Penguins.

Mario Chalmers: The author of one of the greatest shots in college basketball history in KU’s 2008 national championship victory, Chalmers went on to a 15-year professional career spent primarily in the NBA with the Miami Heat. He started 473 career NBA games and won back-to-back titles with the Heat in 2012 and 2013. In later seasons, he spent time overseas and in the NBA G League, but his most prominent presence in recent years has been in the Big3, the 3-on-3 league with former pros founded in 2017. Last year, he hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the championship. With the Miami 305, he is a teammate of Purple Reign’s Michael Beasley.

Marcus Garrett: One of the best perimeter defenders in KU history, Garrett was the 2020 national defensive player of the year during his four-year career as a Jayhawk. He left for the NBA in 2021 and played sparingly for the Miami Heat as an undrafted rookie and has since spent much of his time with the Greensboro Swarm, NBA G League affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets. This past season they won the league title as Garrett started 27 of 30 games and supplied 12.2 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals. It will be his first time in TBT.

Jacob Hanna: A recent Washburn standout who will get the chance to play again at Lee Arena, Hanna was the MIAA defensive player of the year during the 2024-25 season, when the Ichabods reached the national semifinals. He provided a spark off the bench for JHX Hoops last summer before the team lost in the third round. Hanna posted 10.4 points per game for Real Valladolid in Spain’s second division last season.

Tra-Deon Hollins: Hollins is a 6-foot-2 guard from Omaha, Nebraska, who eventually found his way to Omaha in college after starting at the junior-college level. He had a distinguished two-year career with the Mavericks in which he was first-team All-Summit League and the league’s defensive player of the year both seasons; as a junior he led the nation in steals. Hollins went undrafted in 2017 and bounced around the G League for six years before playing in Mexico and Romania.

Darnell Jackson: Jackson (“D-Block”), a four-year Jayhawk out of Oklahoma City, was a starter and third-team all-conference player for KU’s 2008 national championship team. The 6-foot-9 forward tallied 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds that year. He was a second-round pick late in the NBA Draft and played in 143 career games across three seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and Sacramento. He then embarked on an itinerant international career, interspersed with stints in the G League, that included time in France, Germany, Greece, Poland and more. In recent years he has played extensively in the Big3 and served as an assistant coach for the G League’s San Diego Clippers. He has a nonprofit called Behind the Smile and a book by the same name.

Frank Mason III: Mason famously planned to attend Towson before failing a government class, a development that eventually led the Petersburg, Virginia, native to Kansas after a year at Massanutten Military Academy. After second-team all-conference seasons as a sophomore and junior, Mason grew into the national player of the year as a senior in 2017 when he led the Big 12 in scoring with 20.9 points per game, including 47.1% 3-point shooting. Another second-round NBA selection, Mason spent four years with three NBA teams and has lately played in France, where he posted 11.9 points per game for Limoges last season. This will be his third TBT and second with the KU alumni. He has said he may soon retire from basketball.

Zeke Mayo: Mayo, a Lawrence native who scored 14.6 points on 42.2% shooting beyond the arc in one season at KU, joined JHX Hoops on a quick turnaround last summer after a brief stint with the Washington Wizards in the NBA Summer League. Following a year with the Cleveland Charge, Mayo is back in the Summer League again, this time with the Atlanta Hawks. He’s been in and out of the lineup but had 11 points with three 3s on July 7 in Salt Lake City and 11 points with three steals in Las Vegas on Saturday. Last year he averaged 12.3 points per game in TBT.

Andrew Orr: Orr is the second Ichabod on this year’s JHX Hoops squad, along with Hanna, and the team’s youngest post player. The Overland Park native tallied 14.0 points and 4.1 rebounds on the team with Hanna that made a deep postseason run. He is coming off an impressive first professional season in Denmark in which he scored 20.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, including four performances in which he contributed at least 30 points for Vejen. He and Hanna have been playing in the Spence League Pro-Am in Kansas City.

Tyshawn Taylor: Taylor, a third-team All-American guard for KU in 2012, is several years removed from playing professionally and has been serving as a coach in Lawrence through Taylor Made Hoops and at Bishop Seabury Academy. Beyond his capacity as one of the primary organizers of JHX Hoops, he also suited up last year and helped give the team a spark in the second half of an improbable victory over Purple Reign.

Kevin Young: Young has been a member of the KU alumni team in TBT every year such a thing has existed. After transferring from Loyola Marymount to KU during his college career, he became a key role player during the 2011-12 season, then in 2012-13 started 33 of the 36 games in which he played while averaging 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds. He has played in the G League, Canada, Mexico and the Puerto Rican league, among others.

photo by: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Murray State’s DJ Burns (55) looks to pass during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Saint Louis Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in St. Louis.

photo by: AP Photo/Nell Redmond

Charlotte Hornets guard Marcus Garrett looks to pass during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

photo by: Justin Mohling/The Basketball Tournament

JHX Hoops’ Jacob Hanna attempts a leaning shot during the game against OffDaHook on Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

photo by: The Basketball Tournament

Mass Street’s Frank Mason takes an off-balance shot against Team Colorado on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Wichita.

photo by: Justin Mohling/The Basketball Tournament

JHX Hoops’ Zeke Mayo exclaims during a game against Heartfire on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Former Kansas player Kevin Young dribbles the ball on a fast break during a scrimmage against Kansas State alumni at the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, July 17, 2025.