Purple Reign, Led By Jacob Pullen Takes On The Frank Mason-Led Mass Street In First Ever Wheat State Showdown
Led by Kansas State Hall of Fame guard Jacob Pullen, the Purple Reign is serious about competing in the $1 million, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament.
Nothing like a tune-up against your arch-rival Kansas to get the juices following before the high-stakes basketball tournament begins.
Yes, Purple Reign’s journey actually starts before their first game on July 20 in the Wichita Regional at Koch Arena where they will play Colorado alumni. The Wichita Regional runs through July 24.
Before the opening game in the 64-team field, Purple Reign plays Mass Street (KU’s alumni team) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Johnson County Community College in the first ever Wheat State Showdown.
For those who can’t ever get enough of the competition between K-State and KU should checkout this contest. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and tickets start at $20 at the door. Tickets can also be purchased by going to Urban Village Outreach website.
The KU alumni team is calling itself Mass Street and is led by Frank Mason.
KU opens against Colorado State in the TBT on Saturday at Koch Arena. This might be the first time in the history of the K-State-KU rivalry where a few Wildcat fans might actually root for KU given that the Colorado State football coach recently accused K-State of tampering.
Purple Reign, which is organized by former Wildcat Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, is in their seventh year competing in the TBT. Henriquez-Roberts has been the head coach for the past 3 summers.
The winner of the Wichita Regional will face the winner of the Houston Regional in the quarterfinals for the right to advance to the national semifinals in Philadelphia. The semifinals will be played on Friday, August 2 on FS1, before the $1M winner-take-all championship game on Sunday, August 4 on FOX.
David Boyce is a contributing writer to K-State On SI. He can be reached at davidboyce95@gmail.com.
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DAVID BOYCE