Flory Bidunga’s dunks highlight Kansas Jayhawks’ Late Night in the Phog scrimmage
College basketball season is just around the corner, and with it comes Late Night in the Phog, the annual tipoff event for the Kansas Jayhawks.
KU held its 40th edition of Late Night Friday at newly renovated Allen Fieldhouse. As usual, the atmosphere and overall vibe were unlike anything else in the country.
Just ask Jayhawks coach Bill Self.
“We have the best tipoff event of all of college basketball, right here in Lawrence, Kansas,” Self told the crowd of 15,300.
Scrimmages — 15 minutes apiece — were among the highlights of Friday evening’s proceedings. The women’s Blue Team beat the Red Team 26-24, while the men’s Blue Team prevailed 30-26.
Here are a few standout moments:
Freshman Flory Bidunga impresses
At KU’s basketball media day, multiple Jayhawks raved to The Star about freshman big man Flory Bidunga’s athletic prowess.
It was on full display Friday night.
Whether offensively or defensively, Bidunga’s imprint was on nearly every play around the rim. He had multiple ferocious dunks and filled his role in the offense well by catching and scoring off lobs from his teammates.
On the defensive end, he held his own multiple times by stopping star big man Hunter Dickinson from using his nifty post moves to score.
It’s an exhibition scrimmage, but if there was any real takeaway, Bidunga will be fun to watch this season. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
“I think he’s going to be a (fan favorite),” Self said.
Sharpshooter David Coit: fearless
Senior guard David Coit might only be 5-foot-11, but he knows his role ... and he sure can launch it.
Another newcomer to the KU squad, he was 2-of-5 from deep (40%) in Friday’s scrimmage. And each of his shot attempts was a 3-pointer.
“I like him because at his standing height ... he thinks he’s still the biggest, baddest dude in the room,” Self said earlier in the week. “That’s something you have to have.
“He brings not an arrogance but a confidence and a will that I think is welcome with this team. Because this team, one thing we needed to do is, if we were going to sign somebody late (Coit committed Aug. 12), he needed to have personality.
“He has personality. Guys will feed off that.”
Coit finished the mini-game with six points, one rebound and one assist.
KU women’s coach issues challenge
Jayhawks women’s coach Brandon Schneider threw down the gauntlet before a packed Allen Fieldhouse Friday.
He wants KU women’s hoops fans to break the program’s home attendance record this upcoming season.
“We are trying to replicate our home success, or even better, than a year ago — we only lost one game at home,” Schneider said.
Indeed, the Jayhawks went 13-1 at home during the 2023-24 season.
“We’ve worked really hard to try to establish a true home-court advantage,” Schneider said, “and there’s no greater place than Allen Fieldhouse.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 10:28 PM.
