The Kansas Jayhawk men’s basketball program used connections within the industry to add the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to the 2020-2021 schedule. SFA, coached by one-time KU staffer Kyle Keller, will replace Harvard University as the Kansas opponent on December 29th.
Harvard, a member of the Ivy League, had to drop the trip to Lawrence after the Ivy League chose not to have intercollegiate athletics competitions under spring 2021, at the earliest.
While perhaps not at the level of the Power 5 Big 12 Conference, the Lumberjacks should be a quality foe entering Allen Fieldhouse, coming off a 28-3 season a year ago, winning the Southland Conference. Since Keller was hired in 2016, SFA is 88-41, and had been considered a lock to qualify for the 2020 NCAA Tournament, before the season was canceled due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas has never played Stephen F. Austin, a school out of Nacogdoches, Texas, on the hardwood before. Keller worked as an assistant for KU Coach Bill Self from 2008 to 2011.
