Kansas Jayhawks host 41st edition of Late Night in Phog Friday: ‘It’ll be fun’
Since 2016, Kansas has concluded its season-opening Late Night in the Phog basketball celebration with a 45-minute rap and/or hip hop mini-concert at Allen Fieldhouse.
Tech N9ne, Lil Yachty, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, Flo Rida, Nelly, Run-DMC, Lil Jon and DJ Diesel were among the featured artists to perform after the basketball portion of the show was completed.
This year, KU in a cost-saving move has switched the format of Late Night a bit, turning to “dueling DJ’s” who will host a KU student-only “Late Night After Party” on the court immediately following the men’s team’s short scrimmage.
Festivities at the 41st Late Night, which will also include a women’s team scrimmage, taped skits on the video board and dancing by members of both the men’s and women’s hoops teams, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday in KU’s tradition-rich building.
Admission is free. All gates open at 5 p.m. Tickets for the fourth straight year must be obtained online in advance.
“I’ve actually laid awake sleepless many nights worried about Lil Jon, 2 Chainz, who else has been here? Flo Rida, Lil Yachty … we’ve had some good guys who have gone on (to have great careers in the music industry),” KU coach Bill Self said with a smile.
“I think Late Night survived 30 years without having a rapper. We’re having dueling DJ’s, which to me is even better because no matter what genre you like or what is a hip thing to play, you actually are going to get that. I think it’ll be fun.”
KU has 10 players on the 16-man roster about to experience Late Night for the first time.
“At Loyola we’d have a lot of fans. Once conference hit we’d sell out a lot of games,” said senior transfer Jayden Dawson, who played three seasons at Loyola Chicago before heading to KU. “I think our arena was like 6,000 capacity, so no, I mean obviously I’ve never been a part of something like that. We didn’t do Late Night things like that. We’d just go straight into the season. I can’t wait for that, to meet all the fans. It’s my first time being out there for all those fans and I can’t wait. Super excited,” Dawson added
Senior transfer Gee Ngala, a 5-10 guard from Montreal, Canada, is equally enthused for Friday’s Late Night.
“I’ve heard a lot of big things, great things,” he said. “I’m excited to see the fans, meet different people. I think it’s really going to be a great night. People come back, alumni come back and watch. I’m really excited to meet all the alumni, meet the new fans, and, you know, get the ball rolling, as we have Louisville the week after for an exhibition. We’re ready to get started.”
KU will face Louisville a week from Friday in an exhibition contest in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Jayhawks are scheduled to have one high school prospect in town on an official recruiting visit Friday. Luke Barnett, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound senior combo guard from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California who is ranked No. 113 in the recruiting class of 2026 by Rivals.com and No. 144 by 247sports.com, is slated to attend Late Night.
KU has already landed four commitments from players in the recruiting class of 2026.
“It’s obviously a big recruiting deal, not as big in many ways as what it was in the past,” Self said of Late Night being a factor in the ever-changing recruiting landscape. “It’s a good weekend but it is not like … it seemed in the past we had one recruiting weekend to bring in guys to showcase our place.
“Now with the energy of the football stadium and other stuff going on it’s not so important to have it all in that one weekend; We’ve got one guy coming in officially that’s it. Also we’ve had four already make decisions. That’s where we are a,t too.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 4:22 PM.
