Late Night set for Oct. 17

Through a simple post on X on Monday, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self revealed the date for Late Night in the Phog 2025.

The annual season tipoff event which features introductions to both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, scrimmages by both, and other entertainment, skits and fun for the whole family, will take place on Friday, Oct. 17 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Late Night. October 17. Rock Chalk. @KUHoops x @HyVee pic.twitter.com/Ophoel53yI
— Bill Self (@CoachBillSelf) July 21, 2025

No other details about the event were provided, but this year’s event — the 41st edition — promises to be one of the more highly anticipated Late Nights in a long time.

And this time, it has nothing to do any musical guest that may be performing.

Instead, it will go down as the KU fan base’s first official glimpse of star freshman Darryn Peterson suited up in a KU uniform inside of Allen Fieldhouse.

Peterson, a projected top pick in the 2026 NBA draft, has immense talent and will be the face of the 2025-26 Jayhawks. In talking about how summer workouts have gone thus far on Monday, Self repeatedly called Peterson “gifted,” just the latest of many superlatives the veteran KU coach has used to describe the prize of the 2025 recruiting cycle.

In addition to Peterson and a host of newcomers on the men’s side, the KU women also will roll out one of their best preseason rosters in years at Late Night, with returning junior S’Mya Nichols leading the way and a trio of highly touted newcomers — Libby Fandel, Jaliya Davis and Keeley Parks — also making their first official stop in front of the fans at Allen Fieldhouse.

More details will be available in the weeks ahead.

But for your planning purposes, you now know that Late Night 2025 is slated for Oct. 17, a showcase weekend if there ever were one.

Lance Leipold’s KU football team, which opens the season on Aug. 23 in the newly renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, will be on a bye that weekend, one week ahead of hosting in-state rival Kansas State at the Booth on Oct. 25.

The KU volleyball team, which will be playing its first season under new head coach Matt Ulmer, also will be off that weekend, having just finished up a Big 12 road matchup at Houston on Oct. 16.