Illinois Basketball: Illini and Kansas using scrimmage to help heal

Illinois basketball and the Kansas Jayhawks are coming together to make one of the coolest ideas come to fruition.

In 2022, things didn’t go as planned for the Illini. Many had hoped the season would have gone better, and the program entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 9 seed. Arkansas would quickly bounce us out of the postseason, and just like that the season was over.

What started the 2022-23 campaign was a crucial injury to the Illinois basketball team. Luke Goode would go down with a foot fracture in a scrimmage with Kansas in October 2022. This unfortunate event would start the slide for the Illini.

Illinois and Kansas are going to meet up again in a scrimmage this year. This time, the scrimmage is for something bigger than basketball. It has meaning. It has substance. It also has some good karma that will hopefully carry into the season.

On Friday night, it was announced that Illinois will be scrimmaging against Kansas on October 29. What makes this one different from last season?

Well, in a video call between Brad Underwood and former Illinois head coach and current Kansas lead man, Bill Self, the two would chat back and forth about the details of the scrimmage.

In the call, Self revealed details about the scrimmage. It won’t be just a closed-door scrimmage, like last season. This scrimmage will be open to the public. Not only will it be open to the public, though. The proceeds of the scrimmage are going to be sent to help rebuild Maui after the devastating wildfires. Underwood then chimed in with the details about how the scrimmage should be at the State Farm Center, and the plans were set.

On October 29, Illinois and Kansas will scrimmage at the State Farm Center in Champaign with the proceeds going to Maui to help the great island rebuild after some horrible natural disasters.

The Illinois basketball scrimmage details against Kansas gave me goosebumps

The overall premise of the scrimmage gave me goosebumps. The fact these two great basketball programs are going to send the proceeds to Maui is incredible. The power of sport is great.

I also go chills as the two great coaches rehashed some things in the video. Underwood talked about how Self could walk courtside in Champaign again for the first time since he coached Illinois. Those were some great memories. He had some incredible years at Illinois, and I am thankful he was our coach.

Self also called it Assembly Hall, which was the moment the Goosebumps really flared up. This brought me back. It was a walk down memory lane. It was the glory days of Illinois basketball.

I also loved how Self joked about the dislike between Illinois fans and their new big man, Hunter Dickinson. That was hilarious.

I love this plan by Illinois and Kansas. We are using sports to help people rebuild lives. I can’t wait for the scrimmage.