KU, Illinois basketball to help Maui relief efforts with open exhibition

LAWRENCE, KS. (KSNT) – Kansas men’s basketball has announced plans to play for a cause.

In response to the Maui fires wreaking havoc to parts of Hawaii, Bill Self and the Jayhawks have made a change to a previous schedule.

Before, KU and Illinois basketball had a scheduled closed exhibition match for the two squads to practice against one another. The Jayhawks and Fighting Illini partnered in a social media post Friday that the two will come together for an open exhibition charity match.

All proceeds from the contest will go towards the Hawai’i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund.

The contest will take place at the State Farm Center, where the Illini play, and Bill Self’s old stomping grounds, where he coached for three seasons before starting his tenure in Lawrence.

“We both felt this would be a great way for our programs to create awareness to help this cause,” Self said in a statement.

The game will be played at 5 p.m. on Oct. 29, televised on the Big 10 Network.