— K-STATE ATHLETICS RELEASE —
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – Purple Reign – Kansas State’s men’s basketball alumni team – will once again compete in the $1 million, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in the Wichita Regional, July 20-24, at Koch Arena.
The No. 4 seed Purple Reign (formerly the Purple & Black) will take on the No. 5 Team Colorado (Colorado alumni), on Saturday, July 20 at 1 p.m., CT on FS2. If Purple Reign advances to the second round, they will face the winner of No. 1 seed Aftershocks (Wichita State alumni) and No. 8 seed Midtown Prestige on Monday, July 22 at 8 p.m., CT on FS1.
Other teams in the Wichita Regional include the No. 2 seed Mass Street (Kansas alumni), No. 3 seed Florida TNT, No. 6 seed LA Cheaters and No. 7 seed Ram Up (Colorado State alumni).
The 64-team field is a single-elimination, winner-take-all tournament to take home the $1 million prize.
Purple Reign, which is organized by former Wildcat Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, is in seventh year competing in the TBT. Henriquez-Roberts, who has been the head coach for the past 3 summers, is a part of the winningest class in school history (101 victories) as well as the first team to win a conference championship in 36 years in 2013. Former Wildcats Curtis Kelly and Clent Stewart are also serving as assistant coaches.
All-time leading scorer and recent K-State Sports Hall of Fame inductee Jacob Pullen (2007-11) headlines the Purple Reign, which also includes former Wildcats Cartier Diarra (2017-20), Justin Edwards (2014-16), DaJuan Gordon (2019-21), Stephen Hurt (2014-16), Abayomi Iyiola (2022-23), Xavier Sneed (2016-20) and Kamau Stokes (2015-19).
The team also includes Yor Anei (Oklahoma State/SMU/DePaul) and Delano Spencer (Tennessee State).
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.
For more information on Purple Reign and tickets for this year’s TBT, visit TheTournament.com.