Kansas University athletic department officials are making between 250 and 300 men’s basketball season tickets available to first-time donors to the Williams Fund.

The tickets became available after they were not bought by KU faculty, staff and retirees.

“This year, we increased the faculty and staff’s allocation,” KU athletic director Lew Perkins said in a statement released late Wednesday. “But in the end, they weren’t needed.”

Fans interested in the tickets, Perkins said, should go to the athletic department’s Web site, www.kuathletics.com, and complete a Williams Fund membership form and a ticket application form. Both forms should be faxed to the department’s ticket office, 864-5847.

Earlier this year, Perkins set aside 1,622 season tickets for faculty, staff and retirees who had tickets before the 2003-04 season.

He also made almost 300 tickets available for a lottery for faculty, staff and retirees who did not already have tickets. Under the lottery, each ticket is good for four- or five-game packages — one-fourth of the 19-game season.

Lottery participants had the option of requesting additional packages.

Faculty, staff and retirees in line for full-season tickets had the option to buy tickets good for one-quarter, one-half or three-fourths of the season.

“Among faculty, what I think happened was that a lot of people stood back, looked at their options and said, ‘Why am I buying a full-season ticket when I only get to half the games anyway?'” said Jerry Bailey, an associate professor at KU and head of the SenEx committee on basketball tickets.

Also, Bailey said he was aware of several faculty members who opted for fewer-game packages to save money.

“That’s really what it came down to: time and money,” he said.