These former Wildcats share ‘love and passion’ for K-State basketball on alumni team

Kansas State basketball fans are running out of opportunities to build a lasting connection with their favorite players.

The days of four-year starters shedding tears at midcourt as they bid farewell to Bramlage Coliseum on senior day might as well be extinct. Heck, the Wildcats are lucky to spend two years with the same players now that NIL deals and the transfer portal have become commonplace.

Case in point: Jerome Tang guided K-State to the Elite Eight just 16 months ago, and only two players from that team remain on the current roster.

But there is a group of K-State players who stay true to their school. They even want to continue wearing purple long after they have exhausted their college eligibility.

Jordan Henriquez is their unofficial leader. He’s back for another season with Purple Reign, a team compiled mostly of K-State alumni, at The Basketball Tournament.

“I keep doing it, really, because of the love and the passion that I have for Kansas State,” Henriquez said. “It’s great just being back in Manhattan and being around the fans, getting to connect with guys who played at K-State before us and after us. It’s fun to get guys back here in Manhattan. When they commit their time away from their families and loved ones to do something like this, it means a lot.”

Henriquez is both the general manager and head coach for Purple Reign this summer. He used his connections to help assemble a roster that features former K-State stars Jacob Pullen, Kamau Stokes and DJ Johnson in addition to Stephen Hurt, Cartier Diarra, Abayomi Iyiola, Justin Edwards and others.

With Clent Stewart and Curtis Kelly helping out as assistant coaches, K-State fans will see faces from four different coaching eras (Jim Wooldridge, Frank Martin, Bruce Weber and Tang) together on the same bench when they begin their quest for a winner-take-all prize of $1 million at 2 p.m. on Saturday inside Koch Arena in Wichita.

“This tournament now has the platform where you can showcase your talent on national television,” Henriquez said. “Guys are willing to come out here and play in front of our fans because of the love we all share for K-State.”

Henriquez just finished up a season as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois. Now he is looking to continue teaching the game at a different level, preferably high school or professionally.

But first he will take his talents to TBT.

He has been busy with Purple Reign all week. First, the team held a youth basketball camp in Manhattan, where Martavious Irving showed off his dance moves and players agreed they would pick Michael Beasley if they could add any former K-State player to their roster.

Next up is a scrimmage against the KU alumni team and a few meet-and-greet sessions with donors. Then comes the main event — TBT, where Henriquez will coach some of the players who he used to consider teammates

“With our roster, we have a really good chance to go the whole way,” Henriquez said, “just because of the guys that we were able to put together. They are committed and locked in. We really look like we are a solid contender.”

Stokes, who just finished a season playing professionally in Lithuania, looks forward to suiting up for Henriquez every summer.

“He pushes us,” Stokes said. “He’s been like my big brother since I got here. I looked up to him and all those guys when I was in college. They pushed me to get better. They still push me to get better and Jordan holds me accountable.”

Purple Reign, which previously went by the name Purple & Black, has never gone on a deep run at TBT, but Stokes thinks this team could be different.

“I think we are capable of a lot,” Stokes said. “We have a lot more depth this year and a lot more pieces. We are hoping Xavier Sneed can play, and we are going to try and get Barry Brown to play. With or without them, though, we will go out there and compete and play together and communicate. We will be good.”