Perhaps Josh Childress should be more careful about what he wishes for.

On Thursday, Stanford’s freshman swingman said he hoped the Cardinal would meet Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His wish was granted when Kansas slipped past Holy Cross in the first round Friday and Stanford whipped Western Kentucky.

STANFORD'S JOSH CHILDRESS launches a three-point shot against Western Kentucky. Childress, a freshman who picked the Cardinal over Kansas in recruiting last year, scored seven points in Stanford's 84-68 first-round NCAA Tournament victory over WKU on Thursday in St. Louis.

“I’m very excited,” said Childress, who was recruited by KU. “I have a bunch of friends on that team. Just to get a chance to play the No. 1 team in the nation is a good opportunity for us to show, as a basketball team, how good we are.”

Actually, Kansas (30-3) is No. 2 in the nation. The Jayhawks were also second in the fight to land Childress, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Lakewood, Calif. The honorable mention All-Pacific 10 selection averages 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in a reserve role.

His KU friends are freshmen Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien. All three made official recruiting visits to Kansas for Late Night With Roy Williams in 2000, attended Nike camp and were selected for the McDonald’s All-America game last summer.

After Late Night, Miles and Simien wouldn’t have believed they’d be playing against Childress in college.

“I thought he was going to come (to KU), but he didn’t,” said Miles, a point guard who averages 6.8 assists per game. “I called him after I made my decision. I said I was going to KU, and he should have picked KU.”

Williams also was disappointed.

“He’s going to be a big-time college player,” Williams said. “We don’t have a true small forward prospect out there that’s 6-6, 6-7 with the wing span that Josh has. He has the ability to shoot the ball, put it on the floor and be a good defender. I really thought he had the total package as a young man and as a basketball player. At one time, I thought we were going to get him.”

Childress had nothing but good things to say about Williams and Kansas, but he ultimately chose to stay closer to home in what he said was a “51-49” decision.

“It was nothing wrong with them,” Childress said of the Jayhawks. “It was what was right with Stanford.”

If Williams had signed Childress, it’s unlikely KU would have signed 6-4 guard Keith Langford. The Crowley, Texas, freshman has played a valuable role for the Jayhawks, averaging 7.5 points per game. He will start today if injured Kirk Hinrich is unable to play.

“I was disappointed,” Simien said of Childress’ decision. “I’d like to be with him if he came to Kansas. But at the same time, if he came to Kansas we might not have Keith. I wouldn’t have a good friend in Keith Langford.”

Today, KU fans will see the one that got away.

“I called him on Selection Sunday,” said Simien, a 6-9 forward who averages 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds. “I said, ‘You don’t want to see us in the second round.’ But that’s the way it worked out. We’ve got to go head-to-head, then laugh about it after the game.”