Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal World

Kansas forward Flory Bidunga knocks down an alley-oop from guard Dajuan Harris Jr. during Late Night in the Phog at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 in Lawrence.

For the second straight year, the Kansas men's basketball team will showcase its skills in a hostile street environment long before the games start counting.

KU travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday night to face the new-look Razorbacks in a charity exhibition to benefit mental health organizations.

As much attention as the Jayhawks received over the spring and summer as they made one high-profile transfer after another, Arkansas may have attracted even more attention when it was thrust into the spotlight after head coach Eric Musselman (architect of (a surprise in the second round against KU in 2023) transferred to USC and the Razorbacks improbably poached Kentucky Hall of Fame head coach John Calipari as his replacement.

The KU-Arkansas game doesn't count in the standings, but like KU's trip to Illinois last season, it will provide a very early indication of how ready the Jayhawks are to compete with a new-look roster. They lost last year's charity exhibition — point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said Wednesday that getting a preseason win motivates him more this time — and this year's could present an even greater challenge.

The Jayhawks may be a little depleted as Mississippi State guard Shakeel Moore is still finishing his recovery from an offseason injury and Hunter Dickinson and Rylan Griffen are also uncertain for Friday due to their own minor ailments. On the other hand, the Razorbacks are also nowhere near full strength, with Calipari stating last week that Arkansas was “missing a bunch of guys” and was only able to use six rotation players in practice, according to Whole Hog Sports.

Injuries aside, Arkansas is ranked fourth in the SEC's preseason media poll and the AP Top 25 ranks it No. 16 in the country. This shows a level of confidence in the new roster Calipari has put together after a completely different team produced the Razorbacks last season. first losing season in 14 years.

In fact, with the exception of Musselman holdover Trevon Brazile — who didn't even play against KU in the 2023 NCAA Tournament because he suffered a season-ending injury — this squad looks more like the Kentucky team the Jayhawks beat in the champs Classic played last November than any other Arkansas squad today. Junior Adou Thiero had arguably the best game of his career that day in Chicago with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and sophomore DJ Wagner is also a familiar face.

The 7-foot-2 big man from Croatia, Zvonimir Ivišić, became eligible to play for Kentucky midway through last season and joined Calipari at Arkansas. The Razorbacks also brought in several key rookies previously committed to Kentucky, including McDonald's All-Americans Boogie Fland and Karter Knox, as well as the highly touted Billy Richmond III.

The biggest difference, however, might be those who have never worn Wildcat Blue. Seniors Jonas Aidoo and Johnell Davis were both selected to the All-SEC second team in the preseason.

Aidoo, a 6-foot-11 forward, dropped out of the conference after being an all-league pick at Tennessee, where he averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds as a junior in his first full season as a starter and scored 1.8 blocks.

Davis became one of the portal's most sought-after transfers after Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May left for Michigan. One of the centerpieces of the Owls' recent rise – which included a Final Four run in 2023 – has been Davis, who went from being the sixth C-USA player of the year this season to being the AAC co-player of the year in 2024 advanced. The 6-foot-4 guard filled the stat sheet with 18.2 points, including 41.4% shooting from distance and 6.3 rebounds.

The chance for fans to see all of these players in action together for the first time under Calipari's tutelage (if they're healthy, of course) should create an intense atmosphere at Bud Walton Arena that goes well beyond the usual preseason -Standards go beyond.

Although it doesn't officially break the tie between Calipari and Bill Self, who have split 12 all-time matchups, including two national title games.

And even if, as Self said Wednesday, it will have some peculiarities in its format – it will be played in quarters rather than halves and could include breaks for practice or implementation of certain situations.

No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks vs. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (Exhibition)

• Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 8 p.m

• Transmitted: SEC Network

• radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)

AP Photo/Michael Woods

John Calipari answers questions from reporters during a press conference after being introduced as the new Arkansas men's basketball head coach on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Kentucky guard Adou Thiero (3) shoots past Mississippi State guard Shawn Jones Jr. (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Starkville, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Florida Atlantic's Johnell Davis (1) drives against Northwestern's Ryan Langborg (5) during the first half of a college basketball first game in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York.

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Tennessee forward Jonas Aidoo throws over Saint Peter's forward Mouhamed Sow during the first half of a college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C

Keep an eye out

Minutes for everyone: After initially suggesting at KU media day that KU might not be able to play a non-freshman player (in this case Jamari McDowell) in its exhibition games against Arkansas and Washburn while still maintaining its ability to redshirt , Self changed course on Friday, saying he learned that day that anyone could participate in the exhibitions. The two preseason matchups could go a long way in determining McDowell's fate for the upcoming season, as Self said he recently spoke with the sophomore guard's family and told them they would see how things panned out. Self also didn't rule out freshman Rakease Passmore as a redshirt candidate — and there are certainly plenty of off-ball guards on the roster — but said center Flory Bidunga “obviously won't do that.”

Road warrior: In hindsight, the Jayhawks' loss to a weaker Illinois team last preseason could have been an omen of things to come, considering how poorly they performed on the road throughout the season. After winning their only true non-conference road game at Indiana, they went 2-7 on the road in the Big 12, including early upset losses at UCF and West Virginia and subsequent losses by 29 and 30 points, respectively. Playing against a ranked team in your home gym and beating them, even in October, would be a sign of some improvement in that regard. Self said placing his team in a street setting is the reason they planned the exhibit in the first place.

Point void: With Elmarko Jackson out for the year and Moore recovering from an offseason injury that should get him back up to speed in early November, Northern Illinois transfer David Coit has a chance to get all the backup point guard minutes behind Dajuan Harris Jr. (South Dakota State's Zeke Mayo could potentially handle the ball, too.) If Self sticks to his claim that he wants to play Harris less than 30 minutes per game, that could mean the aggressive , high player gets a whole quarter of the game -scoring, diminutive coit. Self has called him the team's best perimeter scorer in recent days, and he could have a chance to prove it as early as Friday.

Observation out of balance

Self said on ESPN+'s “Late Night in the Phog” that when he and Calipari first talked about doing this exhibition, Self wanted to use it to raise money for names, images and likenesses, only to find out it wasn't was allowed. He added at Big 12 media day that KU's future participation in such preseason exhibitions could depend on NCAA rules governing such NIL games.

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Written by Henry Greenstein

Henry is a sports editor at Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com and serves as a KU beat writer while managing daily sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (BA, Linguistics) and Arizona State University (MA, Sports Journalism). Despite being from Los Angeles, he's often been told that he doesn't give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.

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