KU and K-State basketball alumni to compete in exhibition game in June in Kansas City

Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush, a pair of starters on Kansas’ 2008 NCAA men’s basketball championship team, will lead a KU alumni team against Jordan Henriquez’s Kansas State alumni squad at 7 p.m., June 10 at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

The Sunflower Showdown exhibition will be the first of several Alumni Basketball League Summer Rivalry exhibition games to be held across the country from June through August.

“I hope Kansas City is ready,” Kareem Rush, Brandon’s brother who is the organizer of the new Alumni Basketball League, told The Star in a phone interview.

The KU-K-State game on June 10 will be the only game involving those teams this summer. Further details, including rosters for the KU-KSU game, will be revealed at a later date. Tickets are on sale at eventbrite.com. Information on the ABL is available at the website ablballin.com.

Brandon Rush will serve as captain of “Self’s Army,” while former Wildcat Henriquez will lead the “Manhattan Boomers.” There also will be a family night on June 9 in addition to the alumni game on the 10th.

“This is going to be a great, family-friendly event for fans from both universities to watch some high-caliber basketball in a competitive environment,” said former KU wing Brandon Rush, who played in the NBA nine seasons following his KU days.

“Mario and I are friends and former 2008 championship teammates and we can’t wait to get back on the court to represent the KU faithful. This is a fun rivalry and a great chance for a lot of familiar faces to see each other back on the court, and we hope fans are as excited about it as we are,” Rush added.

Kareem, is commissioner of the new ABL. Jake Jackson of Denver-based Jackson Sport Ventures is co-owner (with Kareem Rush) of the league.

“Jake and I have been looking for ways to reconnect college basketball alumni with their strong and loyal fan base and we think both the fans and the players will love what we’ve put together this summer,” former Missouri Tiger/NBA player Kareem Rush said.

“The ABL is a great way for players to reconnect with each other and put on a show for the fans who have supported them through the years. We think this is going to be a fantastic event for the Kansas City region to enjoy and a great kick-off to the rivalry series we will be announcing in other markets,” Rush added, noting the goal was to get some recent KU and K-State graduates who might be playing overseas to join players such as Brandon Rush and Chalmers in the June 10 exhibition.

Noted Jackson: “With Kareem’s strong ties to the Kansas City community, we thought this would be the perfect location to launch the 2023 series of events. We hope fans enjoy this unique entertainment experience and look forward to announcing future dates and games in the coming weeks.”

According to the co-owners, the 2023 ABL Summer Rivalry exhibition series will feature six to eight alumni basketball games in select markets. Each team will be led by a “general manager” who according to the owners, “serves as the captain and point for recruitment of players. All players on each team will be alumni of one of the participating universities.”

Georgetown alums played Maryland alums in an ABL game last August in College Park, Maryland. Georgetown, Maryland and Syracuse are some of the teams that also will be involved this year.