Basketball legends back in the Fieldhouse

Kansas’ Legends of the Phog charity basketball game on Sept. 24 felt like a video game. Something like a daydream imagined by a half-sleeping accountant who left Lawrence five years prior.

How else could 23 players and two coaches, separated by several decades but who together accounted for three National Championships, 54 conference championships, 13 Final Fours and 2,038 all-time victories at Kansas, reunite in Allen Fieldhouse for a pick-up game on the same court?

Somehow, though, it was real and 16,300 fans sold the place out.

“Only at Kansas,” coach Bill Self said in his opening remarks. “Only at Kansas would something like this be possible.”

Sure, the game was fun to watch. It was a slow-paced, high-flying scrimmage with no defense. It was a mix of current-NBA players and grown men who now have real jobs.

But any Kansas basketball nerd knows, whether they attended or not, that the actual game was the background story. This was a celebration of one of the most storied college basketball programs in the country on a September afternoon in the middle of football season.

During the game, the place was quiet. There was not one to boo, no opposing fans to shout over or heckle, no rooting interest in the outcome of the game. It was simply about bringing the Kansas basketball community to a small family reunion. For everyone involved it was a trip down memory lane and a unique opportunity to see a snippet of basketball history in one gym.

But the event did more than let Kansas fans gloat. The event was a recruiting tool.

Several sought-after high-school seniors were in the crowd and Bill Self probably had to hide the smile on his face. The event did most of the talking for him.

Ryan Roberston threw alley-oops to Cole Aldrich. Marcus Morris guarded Brandon Rush. Billy Thomas swished three pointers from downtown and coaching greats Larry Brown and Ted Owens coached, or overlooked, the two sides.

During one timeout, Paul Pierce, NBA superstar and Kansas great, took the microphone and thanked the city and the fans while the sold-out crowd wouldn’t shut up. For an 18-year-old choosing where to attend school, the message from Kansas was loud and clear: this place is about tradition and passion.

Fittingly, the game ended in a 111-111 tie. Pierce made a three-pointer with under ten seconds remaining to put the Blue team up 3. Mario Chalmers then answered with a three-ball for the White team, tying the game up and leaving .01 on the clock. Game over.

Two of the great clutch shooters in the history of the program, and two current NBA players, match three-pointers to send everyone – including the recruits, we hope - home smiling.

Only at Kansas.