Kansas Coach Bill Self to Return to Illinois for Charity Game to Aid Maui Fire Victims

The Jayhawks coach has not coached in Champaign, Illinois in 20 years.

Kansas coach Bill Self will make his return to Champaign, Illinois when the Jayhawks face the Illini in an exhibition clash on Oct. 29 to raise funds for the victims affected by the Maui wildfires.

The two schools were slated to participate in a closed scrimmage ahead of the 2023-24 season. However, the two schools announced that they would play in a televised game on the Big Ten network with proceeds from the matchup given to the Maui Strong Fund.

Officials reported that the wildfires have killed at least 111 people, including children, according to CNN. Even more, Hawai’i Gov. Josh Green told CNN on Wednesday that the death toll is expected to rise as rescue searches continue and that more than “1,000 residents remain unaccounted for.”

“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," Self said in a statement, per ESPN. “[Illinois coach Brad Underwood] 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.”

Self spent three seasons at Illinois (2000 to ’03) before leaving for Kansas. Self led the Illini to two Big Ten regular-season titles, a conference tournament title and three consecutive men’s NCAA tournament appearances.