Via Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball will play a charity fundraising exhibition game at Arkansas on Friday, Oct. 25. The contest will be played at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Start time and broadcast information will be announced soon. Ticket-wise, Kansas will hold a donor sale for its small allotment for the game with that information to come later. General public ticket sales will begin Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. CT through the Arkansas ticket office.
The Kansas at Arkansas contest is part of a series exhibition games sponsored by CareSource in which proceeds from ticket sales will benefit mental health providers and charities within each school’s footprint. Kansas will donate proceeds from the game to the Kansas City based Fore The Kids Foundation (forethekidskc.org). Arkansas will donate proceeds from the charity game to Arkansas Children’s Hospitals.
“We are excited to be able to go play at Arkansas in an exhibition game and help raise money for a great cause, as the proceeds will go to mental health charities,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “This game will give us a good idea to see where our team is before the season starts. We wanted to play on the road to give us an opportunity to experience what our first road contest will be like as opposed to experiencing it for the first time in the regular season.”
This will be the third charity exhibition game Kansas will have participated over the last seven seasons. In October 2017, Kansas played Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri which raised money for Hurricane Katrina relief. Last season, in October 2023, Kansas played at Illinois to provide financial resources for rapid response and recovery for the devastating wildfires in Maui.
Kansas leads the overall series with Arkansas, 8-6, and the two teams last met in the 2023 NCAA Tournament second round in Des Moines, Iowa, with Arkansas claiming a 72-71 win. The 14-game series dates back to 1946 and the Oct. 25 contest will be the first exhibition meeting between the two schools.
The KU-Arkansas contest will pit Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coaches with Bill Self, who enters his 22nd season at Kansas, and Arkansas first-year coach John Calipari.
In 21 seasons at Kansas with a 588-143 record, Self is three wins from becoming the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history. He will pass Dr. F.C. “Phog” Allen who was 590-219 in 39 seasons at KU (1907-09; 1919-56). Additionally, Self has a career record of 795-248 in 31 seasons and is five wins from becoming the third active NCAA D1 head coach to amass 800 all-time wins. Calipari is first at 813-260 entering his 34th season, while Tennessee’s Rick Barnes is next at 806-415 entering his 38th career season.
