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Kansas basketball: Illinois to take on Jayhawks in charity exhibition for Maui wildfire relief

By Joshua Schulman

TULSA, OK - MARCH 20: Demetri McCamey #32 of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives with the ball against Brady Morningstar #12 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at BOK Center on March 20, 2011 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
TULSA, OK - MARCH 20: Demetri McCamey #32 of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives with the ball against Brady Morningstar #12 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the third round of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at BOK Center on March 20, 2011 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Bill Self and Kansas basketball will face his former team in a charity match versus Illinois to raise money for Maui relief in October.

Kansas will receive yet another challenge before the regular season commences.

The “Maui Strong Fund Game” between Illinois and the Kansas Jayhawks, which is scheduled to be played on Oct. 29 at 5:00 p.m. CT, will be played as a fundraiser for relief efforts of the devastating wildfires in Maui.

Thousands have lost their homes and several historical landmarks were burned to the ground in Lahaina, Hawaii, the home of the annual Maui Invitational. Category 4 storm Dora and the damage it has inflicted on the region have jeopardized the state of this year’s tournament, in which Kansas basketball and seven other schools were expected to appear this upcoming season.

Initial reports indicated that it would be a closed scrimmage between the two schools — similar to the four-hour practice they had last preseason — but tickets will now be purchasable for fans. The game will be played in State Farm Center in Champaign, the home arena of the Illini, and streamed on the Big Ten Network.

Illinois was Bill Self’s third coaching gig at the collegiate level after previous stops at Tulsa and Oral Roberts. He went 78-24 across three seasons before becoming the coach all Kansas fans have grown to love.

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Although it will be a competitive contest, the game is being played for something bigger than basketball. All proceedings will be donated to the Hawai’i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund in efforts to restore areas that were affected.

Unless KU schedules other exhibitions, Illinois will be the first of two on the calendar. It will come three days before the Jayhawks play against Fort Hays State on the first day of November.

Kansas and Illinois have not faced off in a season since 2011 when the Jayhawks took down the Illini 73-59 in the Round of 32. However, they’ve played in multiple exhibitions since.

It has been the only meeting between the two schools since Coach Self took the KU job in 2003. The Roy Williams-led Jayhawks narrowly defeated the Bill Self-Illini in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

KU Athletics released this message from Self:

"“For decades, the Maui Invitational and the city of Lahaina have been very important to college basketball and our thoughts and prayers go to that entire community as they recover from such a tragic event. Brad and I discussed how our private scrimmage could become an exhibition game to raise money to benefit the so many affected by the recent catastrophic fires in Maui. We both felt this would be a great way for our programs to create awareness to help this cause.”– Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self"

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