Frank Mason returning to KU’s TBT alumni hoops team in pursuit of $2M prize

Former Kansas Jayhawks point guard Frank Mason is one of the most decorated KU men’s basketball players of all-time.

He recorded 1,885 points (sixth most in program history) and 576 assists (eighth most) during his time in Lawrence. He was college hoops’ national player of the year after enjoying what for head coach Bill Self’s money was the best season in program history.

“I would say, without question, he had the best year anybody has ever had here,” Self said in an interview on The Basketball Tournament (TBT)’s YouTube channel. “He’s as competitive as anybody that has ever been here, and he probably loves this place as much as anybody that’s ever been here.”

Mason’s career and love for Kansas have made him a legend in Lawrence. So it was a complete shock to fans when he elected to suit up for Boeheim’s Army, Syracuse’s TBT alumni team, last summer.

In 2024, Mason played in the TBT for KU’s alumni team, Mass Street. Across three games, he averaged 18 points to lead the former Jayhawks to the third round of the tournament. Mass Street exited with a heartbreaking 84-81 loss to Team Colorado.

Mason’s decision to play for Boeheim’s Army last year highlights one faced by many pros playing overseas. Opposing TBT teams sometimes seek to lure players like Mason by offering greater financial incentives, and that can make a difference when the player is dedicating two weeks of his offseason and risking injury to suit up in the TBT.

While JHX Hoops (Kansas’ renamed alumni team) works to cover travel expenses and, when possible, provide per-diem payments to players, assistant general manager Tyshawn Taylor — like Mason a former KU guard — said such compensation can’t be guaranteed.

“TBT wasn’t really started for guys to pay-to-play or get paid-to-play,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t about getting money to be here for a couple of days, maybe we win, maybe we don’t, and we all get paid to go home for a couple of days. The goal of the TBT is to get together for two weeks, lock in, and win a million dollars.

“I think some of us kind of lose sight of that sometimes.”

A year later, Mason’s perspective seems to have changed. On May 19, it was announced that he’d be returning to play for JHX. And he says that this could be his last year of basketball.

On Sunday, he took to his Instagram story to apologize to any fans he may have disappointed by playing with the Syracuse team in 2025.

“I apologize for choosing business over family,” Mason said. “But this year I’m back where I belong, and I’ll never leave again.”

Weeks before the first TBT game tips off, Mason’s decision to rejoin the team is already proving beneficial.

“It was very important,” Taylor said of bringing back Mason. “The hardest part about the TBT is putting the roster together. Trying to get guys that want to come back and give two weeks of their time in the summer for unguaranteed money after they’ve been playing basketball all season.

“When you can start the roster with somebody like Frank, it kind of makes it easier to recruit the other guys.”

JHX’s roster remains far from complete, but Mason headlines a group that thus far includes former Jayhawks Marcus Garrett (2018-21), LaGerald Vick (2016-19) and Zeke Mayo (2025).

After advancing to the Sweet 16 in each of the past three TBT tournaments, the Jayhawks alumns have yet to break through to the quarterfinals. They hope to change that this summer.

Taylor said that history has shaped how the roster is being built this summer.

“We are all well aware that that third game is the game that we need to get over,” he said. “The guys who’ve been around the last few years all understand how important it is ... The winner of that game usually goes the furthest or wins.”

Rather than simply assembling the most talented roster possible, Taylor said JHX is prioritizing players who understand the tournament’s intensity and have experienced the disappointment of coming up short.

“We’re trying to get people who played in it and experienced that feeling of loss,” Taylor said. “When we get in those situations, they understand the importance of it.

“They understand it is real basketball. It’s not pickup basketball. Guys are competing really hard ... It’s a real basketball-type feel, referees’ preparation, all of that.”

With Mason back on the team and the roster beginning to take shape, JHX hopes its combination of veteran talent and tourney experience will finally be enough to push beyond the event’s third game — and put the former Jayhawks in contention for the TBT’s beefed-up $2 million prize.

JHX’s opening game will be against Purple Reign (the Kansas State alumni) on Tuesday, July 21, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.