KU’s Bill Self to make long-awaited return to University of Illinois campus on Sunday

It’s possible Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self will hear polite applause during introductions prior to Sunday’s Maui Relief exhibition game against Illinois at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.

After all, the premise for the practice game set up by KU’s Self and Illinois coach Brad Underwood is noble: support for Maui residents devastated by summer wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, annual site of the Maui Invitational, which this Nov. 20-22 will move to Honolulu.

“We’re expected to raise north of $2 million,” Self said of the two teams, who will tip off for a good cause at 5 p.m. in the 15,544-seat arena located on the Illinois campus. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Despite the atmosphere of good will in the building once known as Assembly Hall (naming rights were sold in 2013), there’s still a good chance many fans will shower Self, KU’s 21st-year coach, with boos during the proceedings.

Self coached the Illini to a pair of Big Ten Conference titles and one runner-up finish as well as a berth in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight during his brief three-year run as head coach of the the Fighting Illini. Time will tell if the appreciative fans outnumber the ones bitter that the once-popular Illini coach left Champaign for Lawrence to lead the Jayhawks program prior to the 2003-04 season.

“There’s probably a few there that I’ll hear jeers from which will be fine. I’ll just make sure Hunter walks in at the same time and I’ll say, ‘Hunter they really don’t like you,’’’ Self said with a laugh.

He was referring to KU senior center Hunter Dickinson, who went 0-4 versus Illinois while playing for Big Ten team Michigan the past three years.

“It’s love or hate (of Self at Illinois) because in the community of Brittany Trails (housing development where Self and his wife Cindy lived) there were three neighbors that I thought really liked me a lot while I was there,” Self said with a laugh.

Hordes of Illini fans once were supporters of Self, who compiled a 78-24 (.765) overall record and 35-13 (.729) mark in Big Ten games in his three campaigns at Illinois (2001-03).

Current Illinois coach Underwood, who appeared with Self live on the Jayhawk radio network at halftime of KU’s 34-23 football victory over Illinois on Sept. 8 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, acknowledged Self remains a controversial figure in Champaign.

“Part of Bill’s journey started in Champaign, Illinois. It touched down there. He had a great run there,” said Underwood, a former Kansas State player who has compiled a 114-79 (.591) record that includes one Big Ten crown in his first six seasons at Illinois.

His Illini have only advanced as far as the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

“Bill had great teams there (at Illinois). This is an opportunity for him to come back,” Underwood stated. “I think it’s fantastic that we understand the great program that we’ve had, Bill was a part of it. Let him come back and our fans are excited about it.

“People either love Bill or hate Bill, and that’s fact. He left us and yet we’re going to have him for a great, great cause and he’s got one of the best basketball teams in America, so our teams will get better by playing. For him to want to come back to Champaign speaks volumes to him and hopefully the good feelings he had with his time there so we’re excited,” Underwood added.

The Jayhawks have played Illinois once during Self’s first 20 seasons at Kansas. KU tripped the Illini, 73-59, in a second-round NCAA Tournament game on March 20, 2011 in Tulsa.

“For me personally, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for me to go back to a place that to be quite honest I’ve avoided going to for many years,” Self said. “I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do (each March) but whenever I get the NCAA Tournament bracket every year, the first team I’d look at, I’d say, ‘Where’s Illinois?’

“We’ve never ever talked about playing (in regular season),” Self added. “I don’t think Roy (Williams, former KU coach who left KU after 15 seasons for North Carolina in 2003) felt totally comfortable coming back here for years, even though he was here much longer than I was there. That was a pretty emotional deal (leaving Illinois after three seasons) just like it was for Roy.

“I actually look forward to it,” Self said of playing before what could be a hostile crowd. “It could be a situation that totally helps us — regardless of whether it goes good or poorly — helps us become a better team.

“That’ll be as good a road atmosphere as we play at all year. The average ticket is about $300 each. It’ll be a juiced atmosphere. Our players will know a lot after that game,” Self said.

KU and Illinois did get together last October in St. Louis for an NCAA secret scrimmage. No score ever was revealed. The NCAA allows teams to play two exhibition games before fans or one game before fans and one secret scrimmage during the preseason. If teams choose to scrimmage, no fans or media are allowed and there’s no release of the box score following the event.

KU will play Illinois and Fort Hays State (Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse) this preseason, while Illinois will play KU and Ottawa University. The Illini crushed Ottawa (Kansas) 116-65 on Oct. 20.

Fans and media will also be allowed at this KU-Illinois game because all proceeds are going to folks in Lahaina, Maui.

“It was a coin-flip scrimmage if I remember correctly (last October),” Self said. “The bottom line is I think every segment of the scrimmage we had came down to end-of-game situations in which maybe we both screwed up, so it was good to learn from that.”

Self said the idea of a secret scrimmage sequel turning into a Maui Relief game in front of fans was a no-brainer.

“When the situation happened over in Lahaina and we were going to play the private scrimmage again, to me it seemed pretty obvious that we should do an exhibition game to raise money for those people who have been so good to us over the decades and good for college basketball (in Hawaii),” Self said.

It was easy to settle on details.

Self and Underwood “go way back. I showed him around on his official visit to Oklahoma State and I was hoping like heck we could get him (to attend Self’s alma mater Oklahoma State) because I thought I had a good chance to maybe beat him out, but he went to K-State,” Self said with a smile.

The two coaches share a passion for helping out folks in Maui.

“When you look at early season tournaments there’s not been one early season tournament that’s even close that would have the impact of the Maui Invitational going back to the late ‘70s, not one,” Self said. “As much as that tournament has brought over time, nobody else has come close to even sniffing it.

“You go back less than three months you see people jumping in the ocean and trying to get away from fire and heat and everything … it’s awful. To think about that community and all the lost loved ones, what they have been through.

“... The perfect scenario would have been if it was capable of still being played on the island, but it wasn’t. This is the next best scenario,” he added of the Maui Invitational being held in Honolulu over the week of Thanksgiving. “Hopefully we can bring some positivity to some people who need it right now.”

Underwood noted: “It’s two great basketball teams. It’s programs that love their basketball. We’re going to have a lot of fun with it and see if we can get our teams better.”