Lawrence ? While keeping company with the elite circle of big-time basketball programs, Kansas University is like the guy who hardly ever picks up the check.

Based on figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, one might even accuse the Jayhawks of trying to build a basketball empire on the cheap.

Figures can be somewhat misleading because schools may not use the same accounting and reporting procedures. But programs like Kentucky, Arizona and, yes, North Carolina, all report that the money they lay out for men’s basketball far exceeds the checks the Jayhawks write.

Will this be a problem as Kansas searches for a replacement for Roy Williams? Interim athletic director Drue Jennings says no. But he also said Kansas will stay within its budget.

No one is saying Williams bolted Kansas for North Carolina because the Tar Heels tempted him with big bucks, although his base salary of $129,380 was probably small compared with other major figures in the sport.

“Base salaries can be misleading,” said Susan Wachter, Kansas’ chief financial officer. “It’s where you put dollars. Different people do it in different ways. Roy’s total compensation package made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.”

Where Kansas may be lacking is total commitment.

Figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Education list Kansas’ total expenses in men’s basketball for the fiscal year 2001-2002 at $2,286,769 — which would include the all-important recruiting budget as well as coaches’ salaries and other costs.

North Carolina for the same period committed $3,299,001.

Williams was known to be preparing a detailed presentation to chancellor Robert Hemenway outlining why Kansas should invest more to keep up with the other major programs. And that may be something for fans to think about as Kansas pursues Bill Self of Illinois, which for 2001-2002 committed $3,246,348 to men’s hoops.

Perennial power Kentucky went even further, spending $4,414,820. But Syracuse, which beat Kansas in the NCAA title game this month, went further still, with expenses for its men’s program put at a whopping $6,426,202.

Jennings said Kansas would have a compensation package for its next coach “that will be competitive … with coaches that coach at an equivalent stature to our program here.”

But he made it clear the Jayhawks do not plan to upgrade their budget to any significant degree.

“We want the best coach we can find, but affordability is not going to be cast out the window,” he said. “We need to be able to afford within the context of the university system and our own departmental budget. And so that’s a criterion, as well. Now, having said that, I can’t give you a dollar definition of what that is.”