Kansas basketball and Illinois face off in a charity scrimmage today. These are three storylines for fans to follow.
There is a lot of history between the Kansas Jayhawks and Illinois Fighting Illini. Here’s what to watch today at 5:00 p.m. CT during the scrimmage.
1. Bill Self’s long-awaited return to Champaign
Prior to landing the Kansas basketball head coaching job, Bill Self had three stints elsewhere — one of them being with the Fighting Illini. He inherited a talented roster from Lon Kruger and led them to a Big Ten championship and a No. 1 seed in his inaugural season in Champaign.
New opportunities arose for Self, though, and he departed for one of the best jobs in college basketball at KU. Many Illini fans felt a betrayal by Self, similar to the one the Jayhawks felt when Roy Williams left for North Carolina.
Ever since he left the Illinois program in the dust, Self has met with the Fighting Illini just once at the helm with Kansas. KU defeated Illinois back in 2011 during the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. However, today will mark the first time Self returns to Champaign.
Whether Self receives boos or cheers when he arrives remains to be seen, but it goes without saying that Illini fans could feel a certain way about Self.