The Donda Homecoming event at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena on Feb. 5 has been split into two separate events.
The first will be the games between the traditional high schools. Hillcrest will face Kenwood at 5 p.m., and Simeon will play Coronado (Nevada) at 6:30.
The second event will start at 9 and match up Donda Academy, which is in California and features Kenwood transfer JJ Taylor, against Chicago Prep, a high school and postgraduate school. Donda Academy is named for the mother of musician Ye West, formerly known as Kanye West.
Fans will have to leave the arena after the Simeon-Coronado game and reenter for the Donda Academy-Chicago Prep game.
Darren Duncan, the event’s organizer, said separating the events was the only way he could get them approved by the Illinois High School Association and the National Federation of High Schools.
Donda Academy and Chicago Prep are not members of their state high school associations, so they can’t play in events with IHSA teams. The original event was not sanctioned by the IHSA or NFHS.
Tickets for the Donda Academy-Chicago Prep game have been on sale at ticketmaster.com since Tuesday for $20-$500. Tickets for the first event are now on sale on the website for $5. Duncan said he believes most of the fans paid to see the second event, but refunds will be available through Ticketmaster.
Duncan is providing a yet-to-be-determined amount of complimentary tickets to Hillcrest, Kenwood and Simeon students for the first event.
“We tried to make it the lowest price possible, but the IHSA said we couldn’t do that because it would be circumventing the rules,” Duncan said. “The IHSA said it had to be $5 because that’s the price of a typical high school game. It’s not like we are trying to get another $5 out of people.”
