Kansas head coach Bill Self is greeted by the crowd during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Late Night in the Phog has become a familiar tradition for the Kansas basketball teams and their fans over its decades of existence.

This year’s event, though, set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday and featuring all the usual scrimmage action and entertainment, will hold some intrigue, primarily because it serves as the broader KU community’s reintroduction to Allen Fieldhouse.

The historic venue has undergone $50 million of renovations during the offseason. Late Night will serve as its formal reintroduction to the public. Even the KU men’s basketball team only got to return to it for the first time during practice on Monday.

“I think our guys will be more excited about it this year because we haven’t been in the arena yet,” KU coach Bill Self said. “That’ll be the first time a lot of them have really had a chance to do much in the arena.”

Self praised the building’s new video board, sound system and amenities in the concourse, stating his opinion that “fans will really appreciate it and like it a lot more.”

“I don’t know that pictures actually do it justice,” he added. “It’s a shiny penny that’s not brand new.”

Other characteristics of the renovation, pictures of which have steadily trickled out from the KU social media accounts in recent days, include small corner video screens, more chair-back seating and additional Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations. Those resulted in a decrease in Allen Fieldhouse’s capacity by 1,000 seats; it now holds 15,300.

After the usual Late Night festivities featuring the men’s and women’s basketball teams comes the concert, this year to be performed by Lil Jon, replacing previously announced headliner Nelly.

“Being one of the elder players in college basketball, I was in there for the height of Lil Jon,” said fifth-year center Hunter Dickinson. “He’s got some bangers out there that I’m excited for. I did kind of wish Nelly was coming, but obviously things happened with that, can’t control that. But I am excited for Lil Jon. It should be a good time out there. Hopefully we can put on a good show before that, for that show.”

Recruiting note

Don’t expect a massive number of recruiting visitors, official or unofficial, in attendance at Late Night in the Phog, as Self said the event’s importance on that particular front has lessened quite a bit.

“I think it has changed,” Self said. “I don’t think Late Night from a recruiting standpoint is as big a deal as it used to be. I think it used to be the event that everybody tried to get guys to go (to).”

The Allen Fieldhouse renovations indirectly played a role in the event’s diminished significance in this realm. Because Late Night is happening so late in the calendar, four weeks into KU’s practices as opposed to on the occasion of the first practice (which Self said used to be the best thing about it), many recruits are already making their decisions about where to play.

“It’s great and everything,” Self said of the event, “but with kids taking unlimited visits and all the things going on, we looked it at a little bit differently this year (as), ‘Let’s get them in just whenever we can.'”