Roy Williams, who has traveled all over the world in his 51 years on the planet, has yet to set foot in Madison, Wis.

“Never been to Madison, never seen the campus. I’ve heard it’s really nice,” Kansas University’s basketball coach said Monday about the location of Friday’s Sweet 16 contest against Illinois at Kohl Center in Wisconsin’s capital.

“I wish it was Hawaii. The fact of the matter is, it is not. I’ve said for 100 years I just like to play where it’s warm.”

Of the four remaining NCAA Tournament sites, the South (Lexington, Ky.) and West (San Jose, Calif), have potentially balmy weather. Syracuse, N.Y., is site of the East finals, chilly Madison the Midwest.

“I hear it’s a really nice place, nice arena, nice campus,” Williams said. “I like cheese and a lot of things they have up there.

“Hopefully in the offseason I’ll get a chance to play Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straights,” the golf fanatic said of world-class golf courses in Kohler and Sheboygan, Wis., respectively.

While every golf course is unique, all basketball courts are the same.

“I go back to the movie ‘Hoosiers.’ You walk in, measure the goal and ask ’em how long the court is, and it’ll be the same there as anywhere,” Williams said of the 17,129-seat Kohl Center.

It remains to be seen how Wisconsin residents will treat Williams during the Kansas-Illinois game, which will start approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday or 25 minutes after a 6:55 p.m. battle between Texas and Oregon.

The Wisconsin State Journal said last week that several thousand University of Wisconsin fans may want to boo Williams for what the paper called “a not-so-subtle slam against the style of play employed by former Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett.”

Last year, after KU’s 99-98 win over UCLA at the Coaches Vs. Cancer tourney in New York, Williams said: “Are you going to tell me you didn’t like this more than 19-17 at halftime? I’m not a nuclear physicist, but you make the choice. We’re trying to make it a game of basketball skills, not a weight-room contest.”’

Williams was referring to the halftime score of the 2000 NCAA national semifinal between Wisconsin and Michigan State, a game UW lost, 53-41.

After that season, the NCAA rules committee  under then-president Reggie Minton, not incoming-president Williams  asked officials to emphasize cleaning up rough play on the inside.

Rough play was evident in the Wisconsin game.

“I’ve gotten several letters and e-mails about that (from Wisconsin fans),” Williams said. “The greatest thing to me is I tried to immediately say it was not anything against Dick Bennett for sure. I have a great deal of respect for him and still do. I wrote Dick a letter, and he wrote me back a nice note. He said he agreed with me the game of basketball had gotten too rough, but some people took it that I was just pointing at their one game. I said in front of all the coaches at the Final Four, ‘We as coaches and the other group, officials, have let the game get away from what the game is truly meant to be.’

“We did not change anything. We tried to emphasize we have rules in the book that should be called. I was categorized as the guy leading the charge. It was not the case. It was the entire rules committee. We felt we had a mandate from all the coaches who said we should try to do something. The supervisor of officials tried to go along with us.

“Dick knows how I feel because you cannot have any more respect for anybody than I have for Dick Bennett,” Williams added. “Bo Ryan (current UW coach), the job he did this year was great, too. I don’t think I have any problem with the Wisconsin basketball family, but there might be some people out there that didn’t appreciate what was said.”

Williams said he has been inspired by the story of Bennett’s daughter, Kathi, Indiana’s women’s coach who has battled back from a Feb. 8 auto accident in which she broke the second vertebra in her neck.

Also “Dick’s son (Tony) … I really enjoyed watching him play,” Williams added of the former Charlotte Hornets and UW-Green Bay standout now an assistant at Wisconsin.

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Hinrich Limited: The Jayhawks, who will leave for Madison, Wis., on Wednesday night after practices today and Wednesday, held light shooting drills Monday. Kirk Hinrich (sprained left ankle) shot free throws only.

“I don’t think it’s completely behind him,” Williams said of the ankle injury, which limited Hinrich to 21 minutes in Saturday’s win over Stanford. The junior guard scored 15 points with eight assists in KU’s 86-63 win in St. Louis after injuring it Thursday against Holy Cross.

“It still has a lot of discoloration, probably more so now than the first night. They (doctors, trainers) think that’s a good sign … I don’t know what that means,” the coach laughed. “If we had to play a game today, he’d play. The good thing is we don’t have to play until Friday. We’ll give him some more time (for rehab) this week.”

Williams said the ankle was “80 percent, but somebody could say 60 and I’d say, ‘OK.’ Emotionally he gave us a tremendous lift (vs. Stanford) and he made some shots. His play on the court was equally important.”

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Open practice: KU will practice at the Kohl Center from 3:10 to 4 p.m. Thursday in a practice open to the public.