Will KU basketball face NBA stars in Bahamas exhibition game? Latest from Puerto Rico

It looks as if NBA veteran Buddy Hield, the 6-foot-4 former Oklahoma phenom who scored 46 points while playing 54 minutes in a 109-106 three-overtime loss to Kansas on Jan. 5, 2016, in Allen Fieldhouse, will be facing the Jayhawks on the basketball court once again.

Yes, the current word in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is there was a Hield sighting Thursday night at the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel, where the Jayhawks and Bahamian National Team stars are staying while in town for a series of exhibition games.

“Buddy last night made it in about 10 or 11 (p.m.). He got in,” KU coach Bill Self told the Star on Friday after a 1 hour, 30 minute practice on the Academia del Perpetuo Socorro campus in San Juan.

“Buddy’s on his people saying, ‘I’ve got to get a workout in.’ So these guys will be serious at the game. It’ll be a big challenge for us. It’ll be very educational,” Self added of Saturday’s KU exhibition game against Hield’s Bahamian National Team. Tipoff is 4 p.m. Central at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum. The game will be streamed at kuathletics.com and on the KU Athletics Facebook page.

Hield, a 30-year-old, eighth-year pro currently with the Indiana Pacers — his 46-point outing against KU is tied for second-largest scoring output of an opponent all-time against the Jayhawks — is one of four current NBA players listed as available to play for the Bahamian Nationals.

The others: Eric Gordon, a 6-3, 34-year-old, 15-year NBA veteran currently with the Phoenix Suns; Deandre Ayton, a 7-0, 250-pound, 25-year-old sixth-year pro with the Suns (who once considered KU as a recruit) and Kai Jones, a 6-11, 220-pound, third-year member of the Charlotte Hornets taken No. 19 overall in the 2021 Draft.

Ayton was the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Gordon, who participated in the 2010 NBA All-Star weekend, was the No. 7-overall pick in the 2008 Draft and Hield was the No. 6-overall pick in the 2016 Draft.

Self was asked by The Star if a college team — even one as talented as Kansas that is expected to be ranked No. 1 or 2 to start the 2023-24 season — can defeat or even be competitive with an all-star team that could start four NBA players if they indeed show up Saturday. As of Friday, there has been no absolute guarantee the NBA players will all play Saturday.

“We’ll find out,” Self said. “Years ago we were not healthy. We played in France. We played a Washington Wizards’ 10th man and he went for about 35 and they beat us by 20. This will be a little bit of a different team we are going against because those guys are borderline (NBA) All-Stars. I mean Deandre and Buddy are borderline All-Stars and Eric has been an All-Star. It’ll be interesting for us.”

As far as that game in France … Self was off a bit, but not by too much. Former Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as a France all-star team defeated the Jayhawks 79-60 on Aug 12, 2012.

“I’d much rather do this,” Self said of playing a team that could have the four NBA players on the court at the same time. “Yesterday (106-71 rout of Puerto Rico) was a good day for us. We got a good win. Everybody contributed. Even though we are playing a really good team, I’m still going to play everybody.”

Of course Self remembers the day Hield came close to scoring 50 points versus the Jayhawks. The 46-point outing tied Mike Wroblewski of Kansas State for the second all-time scoring mark by an opponent vs. KU. Wroblewski scored 46 points on Feb. 7, 1962, in Allen Fieldhouse. Jackson State’s Lindsey Hunter scored 48 points on Dec. 27, 1992, in Honolulu to top the all-time single-game scoring chart vs. KU.

“We think about Kevin (McCullar) being able to guard. We’re guarding a guy that is a lot better than he used to be and he’s good enough to give us 46 in Allen — and he’s 10 times better than he used to be,” Self said of Hield. “We actually defended him well and held him to 46 because he could have had 60. It’s going to be an eye-opening experience for these kids to go against 27-year-old men that actually know what they are doing, but it’ll be fun. I think we’ll go and compete, have fun. It should be fun regardless.”

KU also will play the Bahamian National Team at 11 a.m. Monday.

The Jayhawks obviously are looking forward to seeing how they stack up against NBA players.

“Of course. Everybody is excited to play them. NBA or not, we all are excited to see what we can do against them and see what we can improve on,” said KU junior forward KJ Adams, who scored 19 points against the Puerto Rico Select Team in a game Adams rated the Jayhawks’ performance as “a solid B-minus.”

“We’re going to really find out where we are at this stage early on,” said KU point guard Dajuan Harris.

The Jayhawks, who had seven players score eight or more points (four in double figures) in Thursday’s rout of Puerto Rico Select, practiced well on Friday before heading out on an excursion on a boat that, rumor had it, might involve snorkeling.

“Today’s practice was pretty good, spirited,” Self said, “better than I thought it’d be this early in the morning (9:30 a.m.). Obviously execution wasn’t the best. It was pretty good considering we left the place at 9 a.m. just to practice.”

Here’s the tentative roster of the Bahamian National Team provided to the Star.

Garvin Clarke, 6-0 guard, 21 (years old), University of Akron; Franco Miller, 6-2 guard, 24, Florida Gulf Coast; Radshad Davis, 6-3 guard, 26, FIU; Travis Munnings, 6-4 guard, 28, Louisiana Monroe; Buddy Hield, 6-4 guard, 30, Indiana Pacers; Willis Mackey, 6-8 forward, 27, Northwestern (Ohio); Eric Gordon, 6-3 guard, 34, Phoenix Suns; Lourawls Nairn, 5-10 guard, 28, Michigan State; Kentwan Smith, 6-8, forward, 31, Stetson; Jaraun Burrows, 6-8 forward, 37, Purdue-Fort Wayne; Deandre Ayton, 7-0 forward, 25, Phoenix Suns; Kai Jones, 6-11 forward, 22, Charlotte Hornets; Domnick Bridgewater, 5-10 guard, 23, no college; Sammy Hunter, 6-9 forward, 22, Akron; David Nesbitt, 6-9 forward, 32, St. Thomas College.