Kansas senior center Eric Chenowith will play in the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches Roundball Challenge, set for 8 p.m., Friday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, host city of the Final Four.
The game, which will pit college seniors against the Harlem Globetrotters, will be televised on tape delay most likely a week from Friday on ESPN. Details will be announced by the network next week.
KU senior Kenny Gregory also originally was scheduled to play in the game, but was a late scratch Tuesday, NABC officials said.
He will be replaced by Penn State’s Titus Ivory.
Chenowith’s teammates will be: Anthony Evans, Georgia; Marcus Griffin, Illinois; Kyle Hill, Eastern Illinois; Nolan Johnson, Oklahoma; Sean Lampley, Cal-Berkeley; Dean Oliver, Iowa; Terrance Simmons, Minnesota; Tony Stanley, Dayton; Mekeli Wesley, BYU and Tarvis Williams, Hampson.
Purdue’s Gene Keady is the head coach.
Gregory will compete in the 13th-annual ESPN college slam dunk contest Thursday night at Concordia University in Minneapolis. Like the all-star game, it won’t be televised live. The dunk fest will be aired at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
Barnstorming to include Lawrence
KU’s seniors, meanwhile, have finalized plans for their annual barnstorming tour, which this year includes a stop at Allen Fieldhouse.
A KU all-star team, headlined by Gregory and Chenowith, will play a barnstorming game on April 22 at the fieldhouse.
The time of the game hasn’t been set yet. Details will be released later.
Here’s the barnstorming schedule:
April: 18-at Osage City (7:30 p.m.). 20-at Grinnell (8 p.m.). 21-at Garden City (12:30 p.m.). 22-at Allen Fieldhouse (time to be determined). 25-at Humboldt (7:30 p.m.). 28-at Eureka (2:30 p.m.); Wichita Carroll (8:30 p.m.). 29-at Hillsboro (3 p.m.).
KU senior Luke Axtell will not participate in the game. He has returned to his hometown of Austin, Texas, to receive treatment for the bulging disk and two degenerative disks in his back.
It is now believed he will not need surgery and instead will undergo a form of traction treatment with exercises.
Chenowith and Gregory both have accepted invitations to the Desert Classic, an NBA draft combine May 1-5 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Kansas coach Roy Williams will be presented the Newton S. Hilliard Award Sunday in Minneapolis. It recognizes him as the incoming president of the NABC for the 2001-02 season.
Kansas signees Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles have been named Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas and Oregon respectively. Simien and Miles also are second-team Parade All-Americans. Miles will participate in the McDonald’s All-America game at 8 tonight on ESPN. Simien will sit out the game because of a shoulder injury that likely will require surgery.
He blocked a shot at practice Monday after banging with massive Eddy Curry, his shoulder popping out as he rejected a shot off the glass.
“I’m going to be fine,” Simien said Tuesday. He’ll be evaluated upon returning from the game.
