Bill Self’s first recruiting class at Kansas University someday might be regarded as one of his best.

“I think these three guys can be great players for Kansas,” Self said of 6-foot-11 Alexander “Sasha” Kaun, 6-1 Russell Robinson and 6-8 Darnell Jackson, who Wednesday signed national letters of intent with KU on the first day of the weeklong early signing period. “I think they can be impact guys — much like a (Keith) Langford, (Wayne) Simien, (Aaron) Miles, (Michael) Lee type of class.”

Rivals.com and Sporting News men’s basketball recruiting analyst Mike Sullivan agreed.

“It is definitely a top-five, maybe even a top-three class nationally,” Sullivan said.

KU landed one of the country’s top big men in Kaun, a Tomsk, Russia, native who attends Florida Air Academy. Robinson, of New York’s Rice High, is one of the nation’s best shooters, and Jackson, of Midwest City (Okla.) High, is one of the country’s most physically imposing power forwards.

“We met all our needs,” said Self, who has filled all 13 scholarships but said he would continue to recruit as if he had one scholarship remaining.

Malik Hairston, a 6-6 guard from Detroit, who is considering KU, Ohio State, Michigan and others, says he’ll sign in April. So will Shawne Williams, a 6-8 forward from Memphis, Tenn., who, like Hairston, is a top-10 player.

“I think there is a serious chance these three will not complete our recruiting class,” Self said of the No. 23-rated Kaun, No. 31-rated Robinson and No. 52-rated Jackson.

“Obviously, on paper, we are out of scholarships. (But) I have only coached one team as a head coach that at the end of the season everybody returned. For whatever reason — homesickness, illness, wanting to be closer to parents, playing time, leaving early (for NBA). Teams have not always (returned intact).

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“I don’t think that necessarily will be the case here, but you never know what could happen if somebody has a big year.”

It’s conceivable juniors Langford and Simien, maybe even Miles, could draw NBA interest after this season.

But Self definitely has three prep seniors who want to be Jayhawks.

“How it played out was, these were the guys who jumped on board first,” Self said.

Robinson committed Sept. 29 ahead of guards A.J. Price and Quentin Thomas, who, like Robinson, had made official recruiting trips to KU.

Hours after Robinson’s commitment, Price of Amityville, N.Y., committed to UConn, and Thomas of Oakland, Calif., to North Carolina.

Self had planned to take whichever guard committed first.

“If we didn’t think they were all good players it wouldn’t have worked out,” Self said. “We felt we had to sign a good guard this year.

“Of the guys we knew were good enough to make us better, we weren’t going to wait for one and risk not getting any. We got the guy we felt we had to get. Russell probably fits us better because he can play both guard slots.”

Robinson, who averaged 18 points and six rebounds last year, chose the Jayhawks over Georgia Tech, Kentucky, UConn and St. John’s.

The 240-pound Jackson, who is known as a relentless rebounder after averaging 12 boards and 20 points a game last year, committed to KU over Oklahoma and others July 11.

He gobbled his KU offer a day before St. Louis native Kalen Grimes committed to Missouri.

“Darnell knew if he committed, we’d definitely have a spot for him,” Self said. “I do think after that (commitment), the dominoes started to fall.”

The 250-pound Kaun, who like Jackson has been playing basketball for just three years, chose the Jayhawks over Duke and Michigan State.

His letter of intent was faxed from Florida to Siberia, where it was signed by his mother, Olga, back to Florida and on to KU coach Self’s office — all Wednesday morning.

Self, it seems, never flew to Siberia to woo Olga.

“We offered to go. We definitely offered to go,” Self said. “Sasha said that was not necessary.

“We got a translator from campus to come here, and she and coach Roberts (Norm, associate head coach) visited a couple times. She felt comfortable with everything here.”

“We talked to her the other day. She was awesome,” Roberts said. “You could tell the excitement just in her voice. The interpreter would say for us, ‘We are really excited about Sasha coming here.’ She would say, ‘Thank you, but he’s not a big deal.’ She was really sweet. She wanted us to send her a media guide and plans on coming here in May.”

Sullivan said Kaun, who averaged 13 points and seven boards a game last year, would play in the NBA.

“Sasha was such a late bloomer, a lot of schools got in on him late,” Self said. “When we first got involved (after taking KU job in April), we got in late, but just two to three months behind.

“He just works so hard,” Self added of Kaun, who has not been practicing yet this season while battling the chicken pox.

“I was in Florida one day when he was not playing, coming off an injury. The coach had him in the gym running up and back. We left the gym to do something and the coach forgot about him. When we came back, Sasha was still running. His coach told him to go get a drink and then he started running again.”

• Big Apple recruiting: Self said he and his staff would continue to hit New York hard. Associate head coach Roberts was born and raised in Queens.

“I don’t know if we’ll get a guy out of New York City every year. We’ll recruit a guy from New York each and every year,” Self said.

Self said he also planned to recruit hard in Texas, Chicago and the West Coast.

“We are going to recruit wherever they are,” he said. “We’ll continue to recruit West. Just because we didn’t get anybody from the West now doesn’t mean we won’t recruit there. Two guys from the West had us as finalists (Thomas, C.J. Giles, Seattle).”

• Four more years: Self was asked if KU’s three signees would stay in college four years.

“I don’t know. I would say going into it, yes, but if those kids perform at such a high level we have to make decisions about their careers, whether it be after three years or whatever is best for them and their family … all three are going into it knowing they will go to college four years. I don’t think any are going into it thinking they will leave early.”

• Coach won’t run off players: Self said he would never “oversign” at the expense of forcing a current player to leave his program.

“You never would do something to run anybody off — ever,” Self said. “If you were going to do it (sign 14 players with only 13 allowed by rules), you’d have to have a pretty good feel based on conversations and things like that.

“You also don’t want to pass up a chance to get a phenomenal player because there’s a 5-percent chance that everything will stay intact. Right now, we’ll recruit like we might have one more, but the reality is right now, today, we are full.”

• New Yorkers on board: Robinson is the seventh player to sign with KU out of New York. The others: Terry Brown (Clyde), Tim Banks (New York), Art Housey (Bronx), Ron Johnston (Sea Cliff), Don Auten (Rochester), and Waldo Bowman (undisclosed city). Kaun is believed to be KU’s fourth foreign player. The others are Moulaye Niang (Senegal), Nick Proud (Australia) and Pekka Markkanen (Finland).