photo by: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Flo Rida performs during Shorty Gras presented by the Krewe of Freret at Mardi Gras World on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 in New Orleans.

A year after taking its Late Night in the Phog entertainment down an unusual path with a Shaquille O’Neal DJ set, Kansas Athletics is returning to a more traditional headliner.

Flo Rida, the featured artist on No. 1 hits like “Low,” “Right Round” and “Whistle” and a prolific solo rapper for nearly two decades, will provide his musical stylings as part of KU’s preseason basketball extravaganza, the school announced Thursday afternoon.

The 39th edition of Late Night, which will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse on Oct. 6, also features scrimmages by the men’s and women’s basketball teams about a month before their seasons commence.

The event is free to attend but requires tickets to be reserved in advance. Ticket reservations begin earlier than they did last year, unfolding over the course of a week from Sept. 13-19, with “Hall of Fame Donors and Student Combo Pass Holders” beginning on the 13th, a sequence of other donor tiers gaining access throughout the week and the then broader public availability commencing on the 19th.

The events of Oct. 6 will also include the Phog Fest on the front lawn of the fieldhouse, with food trucks, games, giveaways and the like taking place beginning at 2:30 p.m.

The women’s basketball exhibition schedule is still pending, but after Late Night, the men’s basketball team will next appear in Illinois for a charity exhibition against the Illini on Oct. 29.