Kansas senior Nick Collison, a consensus first-team All-American, was named the squad’s Phog Allen Most Valuable Player at the Jayhawks’ annual awards ceremony Thursday at the Lied Center.

Collison, 6-foot-9 from Iowa Falls, Iowa, also picked up the Bill Bridges rebounding award, an award presented by former Jayhawk standout Bridges, who made a surprise appearance to present the hardware.

“The reason I came back,” Bridges quipped, “is because I have a feeling this award is going to be named the Nick Collison Award in the immediate future.

“I have so much admiration for this young man I just had to come back.”

Senior Kirk Hinrich won the Ted Owens defensive player award, while junior Aaron Miles garnered the Dutch Lonborg free-throw percentage and Cedric Hunter/Jacque Vaughn assists awards.

Soph Michael Lee won the Clyde Lovellette most improved player award; soph Wayne Simien the Dick Harp field goal percentage award; and junior Brett Olson the Ken Koenigs academic award.

“It’s been a tough week,” Collison told the fans.

He was referring to a week in which head coach Roy Williams accepted the head-coaching job at North Carolina.

“What happened is not going to change the appreciation I have for you,” Collison said to Williams. “Coach, you are the same man I said nice things about on Senior Day. I still believe the things I said.”

Former Jayhawk great Bill Bridges, left, congratulates Nick Collison, who won the rebounding award named after Bridges. Collison also won the MVP award at Thursday's banquet at the Lied Center.

The team leader, Collison provided words of inspiration for the returning players from this year’s national runner-up team.

“Jeff, you’ve come so far,” Collison told junior forward Jeff Graves, who reported to KU 40 pounds overweight, but slimmed down and became a major factor especially in the NCAA Tournament. “You have to choose now. You can go back to those old ways or keep going and keep going. Coach was on you hard, but coach is not going to be around any more. It’s your life. You need to get it done.”

• Second thoughts?: Williams, in a post-banquet chat with reporters, said he had been an emotional wreck since accepting the UNC job Monday.

“If I’d known how I’d feel the last few days, I’d have said ‘no’ from the start,” Williams said.

He said he was going to head to his beachhouse in South Carolina early this morning for a few days of rest and relaxation.

“I’m not going back to Chapel Hill, but to the beach,” said Williams, who says he’s not slept well in 10 days.

Of KU’s future, he said: “Kansas will be great. I hope we never have to play, or I’m going to be sick. I don’t want to coach in that game.”

He said he might speak with Chancellor Robert Hemenway today about his possible successor.

“They don’t need my input. Whoever walks in that office will be a lucky guy,” he said.

If Williams could pick his successor, it probably would be someone with KU ties.

“It’d been wonderful if it had been coach Holladay,” he said of current aide Joe Holladay. “I haven’t read the papers much, but it doesn’t appear it’d be coach Holladay. Coach Holladay, Mark Turgeon, Larry Brown … .”

Of Illinois coach Bill Self, who is believed to have been offered the job and is torn between accepting or staying at U of I, he said: “Bill is a great guy.”

• Eating goldfish: How loose were the Jayhawks during the NCAA Tournament? Collison revealed that junior Brett Olson swallowed four live goldfish, freshmen Steven Vinson and Christian Moody two and strength coach Jonas Sahratian seven the day before a tourney game.

“Those are live goldfish,” Collison said. “We’ve got it on tape.”

• Williams on criticism by his former players: “Really, Scot has been the only one,” he said of Scot Pollard of the Sacramento Kings, who was deeply disturbed by Williams’ leaving. “Scot is pretty emotional. He said something in the heat of battle about Sacramento Kings fans this year. I’d step in front of a truck for Scot Pollard right now.

“When I talk about my career at Kansas, if you ask me for three great moments in Kansas basketball, I will not mention a game. It’d be Jerod Haase saying he thought of me as a substitute father, Jacque bringing me on the court on Senior Day, and Scot telling his mom that I was like a father figure, too. Those kids mean the world to me and always will.”

Ex-Jayhawk Rex Walters was one of about 20 of Williams’ former players to greet him as he exited the team bus at the Lied Center.

“We did it just to show support for coach Williams and to show the respect we have for him,” Walters said. “Coach has given this school 15 years of his life and shown us all great integrity.”

“I respect coach’s decision,” said ex-Jayhawk Sean Pearson. “Of course a lot of people are hurt, but coach has done so much for us all. I wish him well, and at the same time we have to support the current players and the new coach because Kansas basketball is going to remain great.”

• No tampering: Williams remains stung by reports he was trying to steal David Padgett away from KU and direct the KU signee to North Carolina.

“I would give up my left leg before I would try to take anything away from the University of Kansas,” Williams said.