Community the focus of alumni game

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri fans are eager for basketball season to start and showed Saturday that Columbia is still a hoops town.

The DeMarre Carroll & Laurence Bowers Alumni Game filled nearly half of the lower bowl for what turned out to be a performance more NBA All-Star game and Dunk Contest than your average basketball game. The arena's energy was more relaxed than tense NCAA games, prone to laughter and showmanship.

Melvin Booker received the loudest cheers during player introductions, though no one was quiet for any of the 27 names called.

"He deserved it, he deserved it," Bowers said of Booker. "Is that the only undefeated (conference) season in Missouri history? He was a part of that so he deserves everything that comes his way."

The names on the rosters certainly helped fan turnout. Carroll and Bowers got to draft teams from some of the best athletes to play football or basketball for the Tigers in the past three decades, ranging from Booker (1991-1994) to Kony Ealy (2011-13). Naming anyone in the middle of those two would require the full list to do its depth and talent justice.

The game was a benefit for three charities: Columbia's Boys and Girls Clubs, Granny's House, an after-school program that helps care for children, especially of refugee and immigrant families, and the Carroll Family Foundation, a nonprofit that educates and provides funding to research pediatric liver disease. Carroll deals with liver disease in his day-to-day life as an NBA player for the Brooklyn Nets.

Carroll played just two years at Missouri, but said the community is still important to him and was part of his participation in the charity event.

"I feel like this is my home," he said. "Missouri's my home. I had an unbelievable year here and we went to the Elite 8, won the most games in (team) history, so we made a lot of history here. It's amazing just to come back, and I want everyone to keep coming back."

The community responded positively to the idea. Tickets were $5, and Bowers said while he wasn't sure of the exact amount raised, because day-of sales exceeded his expectations, organizers had collected around $40,000 to be split three ways in the days leading up to the event.

Carroll and Bowers spoke between quarters and during timeouts to thank fans for their support.

"I'm never fulfilled if I don't help somebody else get to the level or above the level I'm at," Bowers said."That's just how I am, and just knowing that we made a difference today, I'm overwhelmed. I'm glad that DeMarre and I got together, man, to do something like this. Because our university needs it."

Bowers said the size and energy of the crowd surprised him. Carroll, on the other hand, said he knew it would be big because of the feedback he was getting on social media in the build-up.

The game itself was relaxed and clearly built around fun. Quarters were running clock until the last three minutes, the 'officials' wore basketball shorts, and players frequently cleared the lanes for their opponents to try dunks and floaters, with more missing than connecting, and the two teams combined rained down nearly 100 3-point attempts. Steve Moore shot 2-for-3 beyond the arc, possibly the only threes he's hit in a game at Missouri, while Jimmy McKinney hit 4-of-7 and Jarrett Sutton made 4-of-12.

The players good naturedly talked trash before and during the game and only really played defense when a steal or block was within reach, which led to Bowers scoring 21 points to lead his team. Ricardo Ratliffe, who was matchup trouble for Bowers' squad, went off for 39 points and 13 rebounds - all offensive, a stat that perfectly explains the game's atmosphere.

Many of the showstopping dunks came from football players. Jerrell Jackson, a wide receiver from 2008-11, was the most surprising. He threw down three straight alley-oops in the third quarter and menaced the rim all afternoon, showing his jumping ability has faded very little since his time at Missouri. He tied with Tommy Saunders and Justin Gage, the only two-sport athlete in attendance, for second on Team Bowers with 18 points.

Gage, a former Jefferson City Jay, Chicago Bear and Tennessee Titan, still holds Missouri football records for most receptions in a game (16 against Bowling Green in 2002), most receiving yards in a game (236 twice, against Baylor in 2001 and Bowling Green). He played his freshman year at Mizzou when current head coach Barry Odom was a senior, and said he's been watching both programs closely while living in St. Louis and was excited for an opportunity to give back to Columbia and the University of Missouri.

"It shows the love that we have for the university, the phenomenal things the university did for us," Gage said. "And we don't forget where we came from. Without the University of Missouri, we wouldn't have made it farther than that or past that, so we have to give a lot of credit where credit is due, and the university did that for us."

When asked if, given his performance on Norm Stewart Court, he still had it on the football field, his answer was short.

"No," he said with a laugh. "I'll answer that with one word: no. In this atmosphere I feel good, a lot of guys just coming out and enjoying the moment and not working too hard, just relaxing and giving the fans a show, so I feel like I could fit in in that atmosphere, but at the same time, it seems like this basketball court's gotten much bigger than what I remember."

The dimensions of the court haven't changed any, but expectations for this year's team have since Cuonzo Martin's hire and the arrival of a top-10 recruiting class.

Cheers during the alumni game's player introductions and some of the highlights during the game matched the loudest volume Mizzou Arena has seen in the past three seasons. Expect higher decibel levels the second weekend of November, with basketball's season opener that Friday against Iowa State and a home football game against Tennessee the following day.

Attendance at the alumni game was a good indicator that Mizzou Arena will have more full seats than empty this season unless something goes very wrong.

"Today was a lot of smiles, a lot of giggles," Bowers said. "And that's what you need. That's positivity. I love the university too much to see it the way that it has been the last few years with stuff happening on campus and the different programs, athletics. Just seeing everyone in here having a good time, smiling, that means the world to me, and the fact that we were able to raise as much money as we did for those children, that makes me feel fulfilled."

Carroll and Bowers were both high on Martin and the direction of the basketball program.

"I'm very, very excited," Carroll said. "The coach is great, I think we're heading in the right direction."

Bowers said he's spoken to Martin "three or four times" this summer, and is good friends with current players.

"I'm very close with some of the guys, including Michael (Porter Jr.), who I've known since he was little," Bowers said. Then he corrected himself: "He's never been little, but I've known him since he was 10. They're working, man, and with the talent they have, all they have to do is buy into the coaching system and they could be really good."

And if the Tigers are good this season, that could feed back into another summer alumni game next year.

Bowers said that even though planning and executing the event takes a lot of work and detracts from summer downtime usually spent with his family, he's hopeful the alumni game will continue to raise money for charities.

Carroll was even more optimistic.

"Hopefully in a few years, we'll have this whole thing packed."

The full rosters:

Team Bowers: Rob Stewart, Marcus Denmon, Justin Gage, Melvin Booker, Laurence Bowers, Rickey Paulding, Jarrett Sutton, Jerrell Jackson, Travon Bryant, Kony Ealy, Arthur Johnson, Michael Egnew and Tommy Saunders.

Team Carroll: DeMarre Carroll (did not play), Will Franklin, Jason Sutherland, Ricardo Ratliffe, Zaire Taylor, Mike Anderson, Jr., Jimmy McKinney, Tony Temple, William Moore, Brian Grawer, Steve Moore, Sean Weatherspoon, Martin Rucker and Brad Ekwerekwu.