KU’s preseason slate undergoes change: Tulsa scrimmage to precede one exhibition game
Kansas’ men’s basketball team scheduled two dress rehearsals — a pair of home exhibition games against in-state NCAA Division II teams — during 17 of Bill Self’s first 18 seasons as the Jayhawks’ coach.
This year, KU has altered the routine a bit.
The Jayhawks will travel to Tulsa on Saturday to participate in a closed scrimmage against Frank Haith’s Golden Hurricane. After that, the Jayhawks will play host to Emporia State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse in advance of the regular-season opener against Michigan State on Nov. 9 in New York.
According to NCAA rules, Division I teams are allowed to either play two exhibition games against Division II squads or play one exhibition game to go with one closed scrimmage against a Division I school, or play two closed scrimmages and no exhibition games.
Self explained the reasoning behind switching to one scrimmage and just one preseason game in 2021-22.
“When your first game of the season is against Kentucky, Duke or Michigan State, it’d be nice to play a game where somebody can throw comparable size at you and things like that,” Self told The Star in an interview last summer.
“You are trying to get prepared for the first two or three games of the season. They have definitely helped us in some ways,” Self added of playing a pair of Division II teams in the exhibition season before 16,300 fans at Allen Fieldhouse. “But being able to play someone of comparable size will probably prepare us more for that first game.”
The Jayhawks used to play a small school or mid-major in their opener, then compete in the Champions Classic in Game 2 of the regular season. That changed three seasons ago when the NCAA and ESPN decided the Champions Classic would be a great way to start the college basketball campaign.
“I get it completely. Those closed-door scrimmages are are really beneficial for coach Self and KU,” Washburn coach/former KU player and director of basketball operations Brett Ballard told The Star in an interview at his camp last summer in Topeka.
“The problem is they (Jayhawks) come out of the gates against Michigan State, Duke or Kentucky every year now. They’ve got to be ready. Those closed-door scrimmages,” Ballard added, “probably make more sense because you get more work in against a higher-level opponent. Everybody else is going to playing closed-door scrimmages. It’s tough for us because K-State is doing the same thing. That’s 20 grand out of our budget every other year. But I get it. It is what it is.”
KU for the past 17 seasons has played two Division II schools out of a group that consists of Washburn, Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State. The games in Lawrence before 16,300 fans help support those in-state schools’ basketball budgets.
“We’re hoping maybe they’ll up it to three exhibitions — two plus a closed-door scrimmage,” Ballard said of the NCAA.
As far as Saturday’s scrimmage in Tulsa against the Golden Hurricane, Self told The Star: “I wanted to do a road game. They are going to be good. Frank (Haith) and I have a good relationship. We think it’s good, plus it’s driving distance. We didn’t want to spend X amount of dollars chartering a plane for a scrimmage. This was a lot easier.”
KU senior point guard Remy Martin is looking forward to competing against somebody besides his own teammates.
“Yes we are ready. We’re obviously not as prepared fully as we would be midseason, but we are ready to compete,” Martin said. “I just want to play. It’s time. We have the guys, veterans to do it. It’d be different if we had all freshman players. We have veteran guys who have been here a while.”
Self said at the recent Big 12 Media Day he doesn’t figure to learn much from the scrimmage Saturday.
“I think there will be enough to know 10 days out that we are not ready to play (Michigan State),” Self said. “And Michigan State is going to say, ‘We’re not ready to play.’ There needs to be no wasted time.”
According to sources with knowledge of how the closed scrimmages unfold, little to no information will be revealed after the scrimmage. A Tulsa official told The Star “we are not allowed to have anyone on site other than those who are necessary to conduct the scrimmage. Unfortunately, this means we won’t have any video, photos, stats or other information regarding the scrimmage available afterward.”
An NCAA official told The Star that Saturday’s scrimmage must be “conducted in privacy and without publicity or official scoring. Individuals other than athletics department staff members and those necessary to conduct a basketball practice scrimmage against outside competition may not be present during such a scrimmage. The institution shall ensure that the scrimmage is free from public view. No class time shall be missed by basketball student-athletes in conjunction with such a scrimmage, including all associated activities (e.g., travel, pregame and postgame activities).”
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 7:52 AM with the headline "KU’s preseason slate undergoes change: Tulsa scrimmage to precede one exhibition game."
