Two Kansas natives will reunite on Jayhawks’ TBT team. One grew up a K-State fan
The Kansas Jayhawks alumni team, JHX Hoops, begins its quest toward a $2 million prize Tuesday when the group of former Jayhawks faces Purple Reign, Kansas State’s alumni team, for a three-game series to open The Basketball Tournament.
The first game will be played at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, giving Purple Reign the benefit of homecourt.
A day later, the series shifts to Lee Arena in Topeka, where JHX Hoops will have a pair of players who know Bob Chipman Court better than most.
After weeks of searching to complete its roster, JHX Hoops added four non-KU alumni, including former Washburn standouts and Kansas natives Jacob Hanna and Andrew Orr. The pair won nearly 85% of their games at Lee Arena, helping the Ichabods compile a 49-9 home record.
Hanna, a Wichita native who attended Maize HS, and Orr are returning from their rookie seasons overseas; Hanna played in Spain and Orr in Denmark. They’re both ready to bring a championship back home to the KC metro area.
Hanna is playing in his second season with JHX Hoops. He joined the squad last year after being approached by his head coach and former Jayhawk Brett Ballard, who asked him if he’d be interested in suiting up. Hanna agreed and provided a spark off the bench, averaging five points, an assist and a steal per game in 12 minutes of action.
This year, Hanna is seeking a greater role and the opportunity to show he can compete with players who’ve played at the levels he’s aiming to reach.
“We’re going to be playing big-time players, and I want to show that I am a big-time player as well,” Hanna told The Star. Getting to play against those guys that have bigger names and showing that I can compete is the main thing that excites me.”
Though Hanna didn’t play at Kansas and grew up a Wichita State fan, he’s quickly embracing the nature of the Sunflower Showdown.
“Whenever you put that jersey on, it’s going to be a rivalry,” Hanna said. There’s pride on the line, and money is on the line as well. There’s a little bit of bad blood, of course. Everyone knows KU and K-State don’t like each other. Those big games are games that every player wants to play in.”
Orr, on the other hand, is making his first TBT appearance and is hoping to provide JHX with a big body who can knock down open shots and defend up and down the lineup.
But he’ll have to reverse engineer a bit.
The Overland Park native, who attended Blue Valley North, grew up in a house draped in K-State purple. Both his parents attended Kansas State, and his father, Michael, played football for the Wildcats. Naturally, Orr grew up rooting against Kansas whenever the schools met and was much maligned by his peers for it.
When he dons the crimson and blue, he’ll be in uncharted territory, but JHX won’t have to worry about Orr turning Benedict Arnold.
“I’m a competitor at the end of the day,” Orr said. “Even though I grew up a K-State fan, I’m going to give my all to whatever team I’m on. I’m gonna do what I can to lock in and just go at those K-State guys because I think it’s gonna be a fun experience just seeing the difference in competitiveness in a regular game versus a rivalry game. There is a little bit of edge that comes to that, and so I’m excited just to be a part of that.”
For Orr, the opportunity comes with another bonus: sharing it with one of his closest friends.
Orr and Hanna first crossed paths as opponents in a Kansas high school all-star game, long before either landed at Washburn. They barely knew each other then, but after Hanna transferred to Washburn, the pair became inseparable.
“Jacob and I ended up becoming really good friends because we kind of had similar mindsets,” Orr said. “We both loved basketball. We both kind of had the idea that we wanted to go play after college, and so we just had a lot of the same ideas in our heads and the same morals and values.”
Even after both launched professional careers overseas, they joked about someday ending up on the same roster again, though they knew the odds were slim.
Until now.
“The fact that I’m getting to play with him here in America is just going to be a super cool experience,” Orr said. “To play with him at a high level, too, because you can go play pickup and work out whenever you want. But to play in a real game is just a little different. There’s a different level of competitiveness and intensity.”
If JHX Hoops advances past Purple Reign, the reunion will continue. But regardless of how far the team goes, Wednesday’s game at Lee Arena already carries special meaning for Hanna.
During his lone season at Washburn, the Ichabods turned Lee Arena into one of Division II’s toughest home courts, fueled by packed crowds and a fanbase that embraced him from the moment he arrived.
In fact, he’s never lost on that floor.
“I’ve always believed you want to win at home,” Hanna said. “That’s where your family comes to watch you, where your friends are, and at Washburn, we had a great support base. The student section, the parents — when we were playing NCAA Tournament games at home, it was sold-out crowds.
“So I’m very excited to return to Lee Arena. I’ve got some great, great memories in there for sure.”
For two Kansas natives — whose basketball journeys unexpectedly converged at Washburn and have since taken them across Europe — TBT offers more than a shot at a $2 million prize.
It offers one more chance to play together — this time, back in front of a crowd that helped shape both of their careers.
