Some memories just don’t fade from the collective conscious of Kansas basketball fans. Julian Wright rising above the rim to stuff home a thunderous dunk. Keith Langford darting his way into the lane for layups. Or Jeff Hawkins raining teardrop jumpers from the perimeter.

The indelible trademark styles of play from those former Kansas basketball players aren’t usually seen together on one court. But for one afternoon they came flooding back to campus for all to view. Wednesday inside the Horejsi Family Athletics Center, seven Jayhawk alums returned to participate in a pick-up basketball game against the current varsity team. The game was a treat for campers and fans as part of the final full day of coach Bill Self’s first basketball camp of the summer.

In the end, the veterans showed the young guys they still had a few tricks up their sleeves, downing the varsity team, 76-69.

Granted, the current varsity squad wasn’t the same one that snipped down the nets after the national championship game in April — the only team member from the pick-up game who played during that run was 6-foot-11 center Cole Aldrich — but the veterans still had to work for the victory.

“We know that pace of Jayhawk basketball and how fast they go,” said Hawkins, who buried a trio of three-pointers. “They’re consistently running and jumping a little bit more than we are. We just tried to slow them down a little bit. That was our main goal.”

Joining Wright, Langford and Hawkins on the alumni team were former Jayhawks Nick Bradford, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Lester Earl.

Most of the regular rules of basketball were in place for the game, with a few exceptions.

Camp counselors provided the refereeing — and limited whistles — during the hour-long scrimmage. No clock was used for the contest, which featured a halftime break only after one team reached 40 points. The game ended once a team got to 75 points. The referees awarded one point and the ball to a team every time a shooting foul occurred.

“There was not much structure,” Wright said. “But it was still fun.”

Wright, who plays in the NBA for the New Orleans Hornets, led the alumni with 22 points. Langford added 21, Hawkins had 13 and Lee tallied nine.

Of the returning players, only sophomore Chase Buford and junior Sherron Collins, who is recovering from knee surgery, did not participate.

Three players from KU’s incoming freshman class — Tyshawn Taylor, Travis Releford and Quintrell Thomas — participated in the game. Releford and Thomas led the varsity team with 13 points apiece, while Taylor scored six and ran the point guard position.

“It’s a good experience,” Taylor said of playing against former Jayhawk players. “It gets me ready for college. This was my first time playing with guys like this.”

Hawkins, a 2005 KU graduate, said he was impressed by the varsity team’s talent despite the departure of nine players from last year’s team.

“I think it’s still going to be another exciting year,” Hawkins said. “Maybe some people doubt it because we’ve lost so much, but we lost Julian last year and they said the same exact thing. We won the national championship, so there’s really no telling what can happen next year.”

Lee, who recently accepted an assistant coaching position at Gardner-Webb University, said that unlike the varsity team, most of the alumni players had to fight through the effects of fatigue during the game.

“One time, they subbed me in for Jeff Hawkins,” Lee said. “I’m walking in and Bradford and Keith were all coming out thinking I’m subbing for all of them. We were all definitely a little winded.”

Lee and the rest of his teammates still found the energy to fend off the varsity, though, following a 41-37 halftime deficit. And it was Lee’s final pull-up jumper that put his team over the 75-point plateau needed for victory.

It didn’t have the dramatic effect that Mario Chalmers’s game-tying jumper did in this year’s national championship game. It didn’t match the pressure of Lee’s three-point attempt in the waning seconds of the 2003 national title game. But it was satisfying nonetheless.

“Making that shot gives me something to talk about for the whole summer,” Lee said, a smile flashing across his face. “Until the next time they see me, I’m going to be running my mouth. You better believe that.”

—Edited by Rustin Dodd