Former Kansas State basketball All-American Jacob Pullen wanted badly to face JHX Hoops in The Basketball Tournament, but his body had other plans.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas State basketball All-American Jacob Pullen wanted more than to face old rival Kansas in one last Sunflower Showdown.
His body had other ideas.
With his K-State alumni team set to face KU's JHX Hoops entry Monday night in The Basketball Tournament's Kansas City regional semifinals, Pullen instead had to watch from the sideline as Purple Reign dropped a 59-57 heartbreaker at Municipal Auditorium.
"That's why I went from the back of the bench to almost sitting next to Clent (Stewart, Purple Reign coach) by the end of the game," said Pullen, who was on his feet for much of the game, offering encouragement and instructions to his teammates. "That's from playing KU.
"It's very difficult to watch these types of games, but I had to do what's best for my family at this point, taking care of my family."
Pullen, who is still playing professionally overseas, scored 12 points — 10 in the fourth quarter — of Purple Reign's 85-84 first-round come-from-behind victory over The Shine. But he suffered an injury in that game that did not allow him to suit up against JHX.
"The beginning of the last game, I had bumped knees, like a deep thigh bruise, and it just swelled up a little bit," said Pullen, who left K-State in as the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer in 2011 with 2,132 career points. "My physical therapist at home got a look at it, and he just told me I needed to take the time off.
"I hadn't signed yet either for (next) season, so he was like, 'Man, you've got to shut it down,' and I had to listen to him on this one."
Pullen watched helplessly as Purple Reign took a 57-53 lead during the Elam Ending, one point short of the winning target score, only to squander three opportunities to finish it off. With the game tied at 57-57, JHX Hoops' Lagerald Vick got a steal and went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup.
TBT uses the Elam Ending, where the game halts with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter to establish a target score. The target is the leading team's score, plus eight points, and in this case, Purple Reign and JHX were tied at 50.
"It wasn't a pretty game, but for us, we didn't mind mucking up the game," Pullen said. "We wanted to get it like that. We had control over most of the game; we just let it slip at the end."
Pullen, 35, was back for his third straight TBT run with Purple Reign, formerly known as Purple & Black, and said he would like to give it another go next year. He hopes to convince some more former K-State greats to come along for the ride.
"I think that this was good for our young locker room, and hopefully next year we can have some guys that are really going to turn this around," Pullen said. "Like X (Xavier Sneed) and Wes (Iwundu) and Barry (Brown) and Rod (Rodney McGruder).
"That type of guy could change the lineup for us real quick."
And what does Pullen see as his role?
"If I can get those guys to play and make me a spot shooter in the corner, I think I might suit it back up," he said with a smile. "But if not, I might just be on the coaching staff.
"I would love to play. If I'm healthy and feeling good, I'll always suit it up with the guys. But if I'm not, I'll have to shut it down again. I'm an old man at this point."
Pullen spent the past two seasons with Napoli in Italy's Serie A and said he would like to play another year or two, wherever that might be.
"I haven't signed yet," said Pullen, who also has played in Spain, Croatia, and Slovenia, among other places. "I've got some offers to Italy and Turkey, and different countries, but I'm kind of waiting to see what's best for the family right now. I've been the past two years in Naples, and I loved it. It was right off the coast.
"Now I've got to relocate again, so I'm going to figure it out over the next few months. I'm used to (moving around), but like I said, I'm an old man now and I just can't do what I used to."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Injury forces Jacob Pullen to miss Purple Reign's TBT loss to KU alumni
Category: General Sports
