The Missouri and Kansas basketball programs are coming together in hope of making a difference.
This week, it was announced that the Tigers and Jayhawks will play a charity exhibition game with goal of raising $1 million for hurricane relief. Proceeds from the game will be donated to organizations assisting victims of the hurricanes which have impacted Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Missouri and Kansas’ charity effort has been dubbed the Showdown for Relief.
Both programs needed receive a waiver from the NCAA to make the game come to fruition.
“The opportunity to make an impact on those suffering as result of the hurricanes, through the game of basketball, is a great opportunity for our program,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
“When I brought the idea to our administration we immediately decided that, if we were going to do this, it needed to be selfless, impactful, and there could be no recognized revenue as a result of the competition. With that in mind, I contacted Coach Martin and discussed the possibility of us playing an exhibition game for the benefit of so many affected by the catastrophic storms. We both felt that this would be a great opportunity to impact others.”
From the release:
Money raised from the game will be contributed to the organizations that the five living former U.S. Presidents have come together to support: the Houston Harvey Relief Fund, the Rebuild Texas Fund, the Florida Disaster Fund, Juntos y Unidos Por Puerto Rico and the Fund for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The opportunity to use the platform of college basketball to help so many people in need is the most important aspect of this event,” Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin said.
“Buy tickets to this game, but also please donate if you are able to, as there are people in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who need our support. This scrimmage will not only be fun for fans of Mizzou and Kansas, but also for people all over the world.”
The Showdown for Relief will take place at the Sprint Center in Kansas City on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. ET.
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