Kansas University basketball ticket holders will be able to scalp their seats to individual games with the blessing of the athletic department this season.

Williams Fund members — who wish to net more than face value — can attempt to do so in 2009-10 at “Jayhawk Ticket Marketplace” on the school’s Web site — kuathletics.com.

The procedure is similar to that of Web sites such as Stubhub.com, in which ticket-holders set their own price for resale of their tickets.

Any interested buyer must not only pay that price, but a 20 percent surcharge. That 20 percent surcharge will go to KU’s Williams Fund.

“It’s a service for our ticket-holders,” said KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony. “We understand there are games that our ticket-holders can’t get to, and it’s a way for them to recover some of the cost of tickets.”

Marchiony says KU officials realize “there is a secondary market out there, and season-ticket-holders sometimes can’t go to all the games.”

Hence the department has decided to partner with fans who in the past probably have used Ebay or Stubhub or various other resale sites.

“By doing it with Ticket Marketplace,” Marchiony said, “you are not only encouraging people to join the Williams Fund (for a minimum of $100 per school year), but when somebody buys a ticket, there is an automatic contribution to the Williams Fund (surcharge).

“The other part of it is Kansas athletics is guaranteeing the security and the validity of the whole process. If a ticket is up there on Jayhawk Ticket Marketplace, you can be assured nothing will go wrong and we’ll make good on availability of the ticket. It’s a no-worry process for the purchaser.”

KU in the past had a ticket resale program, but it was capped at face value, sending some to Web sites where they could scalp the tickets.

“This year we decided to let the ticket holder decide what the ticket is worth,” Marchiony said.

• More on renovations: Workers continue to make progress on Allen Fieldhouse renovations, which should be completed by the Oct. 16 Late Night in the Phog.

The latest upgrades to the fieldhouse are part of a $38 million package of work that also includes Parrott Athletic Center, Wagnon Student Athlete Center, Horejsi Center as well as a new basketball practice facility going up adjacent to the fieldhouse.

“Fans will definitely notice a huge difference. We are completely renovating the lower concourse, which will make it wider and make access and egress a lot easier,” Marchiony said. “The concession stands will be more fan friendly. We have a double deck bridge that will make exiting the facility a whole lot easier to the parking garage. We’re expanding the Hall of Athletics. Along the West wall where the men’s and women’s locker rooms are we’ll be doing some neat things regarding the history of Kansas basketball. People will love it.”

New Terrazzo floors, similar to those in the Booth Hall, also are being put down throughout the fieldhouse.

Also, the men’s and women’s locker rooms and visiting team’s locker room are being expanded and upgraded; the old track office is being turned into a media room; restrooms are being upgraded and donor lounges added. Donors will be able to use the lounges before and after games and at halftime. They are being constructed on the west side of Allen, between Parrott Athletic Center and Allen.