New Orleans ? Wayne Simien shook up the staff at New York’s Hospital For Special Surgery last Saturday night.

“Some of the residents got a little upset with me. I got too loud in the room,” said Simien, who, one day after undergoing right shoulder surgery, whooped it up in his hospital bed watching TV as Kansas University beat Arizona in Anaheim, Calif., to earn a spot in the Final Four.

“I almost missed the second half,” Simien said. “I hurt myself a little bit. I had to push the pain button and it almost put me to sleep.”

Simien tweaked his shoulder while squirming in his bed as KU avenged its regular-season loss to the Wildcats.

“There’s a little button you push to give yourself pain medication. I had to push it a couple of times at halftime,” Simien said.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound sophomore is with the team in New Orleans for the Final Four, ready to cheer in person.

“I was in pain after surgery, but it hurt the most not being in California,” Simien said. “It was real tough, especially missing the postgame stuff. That’s always the most fun, jumping around in the locker room.

“Jerod Haase (administrative aide) called me right after the game ended. I couldn’t hear anything. We were both yelling into the phone. I was so happy. When I got back home, the first thing I did was watch a tape of everybody celebrating in the locker room.”

Simien, whose shoulder will be in a sling three more weeks, said he should return to the court in late July.

“I’m looking forward to winning a national championship and coach Williams still being our coach,” Simien said.

Like everybody else, Simien is wondering whether KU coach Roy Williams will take the North Carolina coaching job, which became vacant earlier this week when former KU aide Matt Doherty was forced to resign.

“If he’s not coach I don’t even have a backup plan,” Simien said. “I have complete confidence he’ll stay.”

Simien said the Carolina opening “does concern me. It’s a flashback to my senior year coming in with all the speculation and what not.”

Williams declined an offer from Carolina in 2000.

“Coach has spoken to us about it once. He made it clear and made it confident to us he’s not thinking about any stuff going on. He’s thinking about us winning a championship.

Williams three years ago said he could not leave KU because of his players.

“I don’t know,” Simien said. “He had a chance to do it before. Fortunately, he said no. He’s been to two Final Fours since then. We have such a great group of guys here and great group of guys coming in. It’d be real hard for him to leave.”

Simien said the Williams-to-Carolina talk has been somewhat of a distraction.

“It’s tough turning on ESPN and seeing interviews with coach Doherty and all the coaches they are considering,” Simien said.

— Assistant sports editor Gary Bedore can be reached at 832-7186.