KU basketball alumni to flock to Lawrence for 18th-annual Roundball Classic
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU alumni will play the 18th-annual Rock Chalk Roundball Classic on June 4.
- About 30 former KU players are expected to take part in the pediatric cancer benefit.
- Game will start at 7 p.m. at Free State High School and tickets are on sale locally.
Several players from Kansas’ two NCAA basketball championship teams in the Bill Self era, including Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun, will return to Lawrence on Thursday, June 4, for the 18th-annual Rock Chalk Roundball Classic KU alumni basketball game, event organizer Brian Hanni has announced.
The charity game, to include about 30 former KU men’s and women’s basketball players as well as football players and coaches of various sports, will start at 7 p.m. at Free State High School in Lawrence.
Members of KU’s 2008 NCAA title team who have said they’ll either be playing or coaching the game include Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, Russell Robinson, Brandon Rush and Sasha Kaun.
Members of the 2022 title team who have said they’ll attend include Agbaji, Braun, Jalen Wilson, Mitch Lightfoot and Chris Teahan.
Former KU wing Svi Mykhailiuk of the Utah Jazz also will play in the game with fellow NBA players Agbaji (Brooklyn Nets), Wilson (Brooklyn Nets) and Braun (Denver Nuggets). Gee Ngala of the 2025-26 KU team also will play.
Making his debut at the Classic will be former KU and Lawrence High guard Zeke Mayo, who played in the G League last season. Fellow G League player Dajuan Harris also is planning on attending.
Greg Ostertag, the newly elected mayor of Mount Vernon, Texas, who played at KU from 1991-95 and followed that with 11 years in the NBA, has said he’ll coach in the game.
Last year, the “Big O” put on a ref’s uniform and officiated the second half.
The Rock Chalk Roundball Classic annually raises money for local individuals battling pediatric cancer. A celebrity dinner will be held Friday, June 5, in KU’s new conference center at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
For more details on both events, visit RockChalkRoundballClassic.com and/or facebook.com/rockchalkroundballclassic.
Game tickets are on sale now at the 23rd Street Brewery in Lawrence and at Johnny’s Tavern locations in Olathe, Prairie Village, Topeka and Wichita.
Of the event, Hanni, the radio play-by-play voice of KU basketball, football and baseball, said: “We are so grateful for the generosity of Jayhawk Nation and the big hearts of our Kansas Athletics alumni as well. You couldn’t pull off two events of these proportions (game and benefit dinner) at just any school. It takes special tradition with a deep roster of talented Jayhawks who are both passionate about their alma mater and compassionate in giving back to those in need. We are immensely blessed to have all of the above at Kansas.”
