Kansas Jayhawks alumni team in The Basketball Tournament adds former 1st-team All-American

Former Kansas forward Thomas Robinson is the third Jayhawk to commit to playing for KU’s alumni team — Mass Street TBT — in The Basketball Tournament in July in Wichita.

Robinson, a 6-10, 240-pound, 32-year-old native of Washington, D.C., who was selected No. 5 overall by Sacramento in the 2012 NBA Draft, will join Tyshawn Taylor and Keith Langford on the KU team competing in the single-elimination, $1 million winner-take-all tournament. Marcus and Markieff Morris will coach the KU squad.

Robinson — he played at KU from 2010 to 2012 — currently plays pro basketball in Puerto Rico.

KU according to the TBT will play in the single-elimination event at either 6 p.m., 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. in Session One on Wednesday, July 19, at Koch Arena. If Mass Street wins the opener, its second-round game would be Saturday, July 22.

The Wichita Regional championship game will be played Sunday, July 23. The winner of the Wichita Regional will advance to the quarterfinals July 25 at Koch Arena.

Tickets for the Wichita Regional and quarterfinal game can be purchased at thetournament.com/tickets.

New member of Big 12 lands big man Bandaogo

Former Utah Valley University center Aziz Bandaogo, who had KU on his list of possible transfer destinations, will play in the Big 12 Conference — for Cincinnati — during the 2023-24 season.

Bandaogo, a 7-foot-0, 215-pound junior-to-be from Senegal and reigning WAC defensive player of the year, entered the transfer portal on April 28 after averaging 11.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks a game in 2022-23.

“Bandaogo’s size, mobility, rebounding and shot-blocking prowess should help him make an immediate impact in the Big 12 next season. Huge addition for Wes Miller as the Bearcats transition into the Big 12,” wrote Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com.

According to 247sports.com’s Brett Stein, “a lot of schools jumped into the mix when Bandaogo put his name in the portal including Duke, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Cal, and a host of others.”

Ref John Higgins lands new job

John Higgins, an NCAA official who has worked many KU games during his 35 years calling games, has been named the new Coordinator of Officials for the Western Basketball Officiating Consortium, it was announced Monday by the six leagues making up the WBOC.

According to a release, Higgins “will be charged with recruiting, selecting, developing, evaluating and assigning officials for every men’s basketball game hosted by schools in the WBOC, which comprises the Big Sky, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, Western Athletic, and West Coast Conferences.”

Thus he will no longer have duties as an on-court official.

Higgins — he has worked games for more than a dozen conferences — has worked nine Final Fours and two NCAA Division I national championship games. He has been on the crew for nine of the last 14 Final Fours, including court assignments to the 2013 and 2016 national title games.

Higgins has officiated in 29 NCAA Tournaments, including 17 regional rounds, an estimated 60 conference tournaments and 40 league-title games at the Division I level.

In 2017, he was named Men’s College Official of the Year by the Naismith Awards and Atlanta Tipoff Club, an honor bestowed upon veteran officials “who display character, integrity and dignity, while contributing mightily to the growth, success and viability of college basketball.”