Kansas University’s four-man men’s basketball recruiting class — scholarship players Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson, plus 6-foot-11 walk-on Matt Kleinmann of Blue Valley West — could grow by at least one in the upcoming weeks.

The Jayhawks — who are losing Jeff Graves and Bryant Nash to graduation and underclassmen David Padgett, Omar Wilkes and Moulaye Niang as transfers — are in the running for at least three high school seniors.

They are: Malik Hairston, a 6-5 guard from Detroit, who in the late signing period will pick either KU, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma or Oregon; C.J. Giles, 6-10 from Seattle, who, if he gets a release from the University of Miami, likely will choose KU, Washington or re-commit to Miami; and Alex Galindo, 6-6 from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, who has been released from his UTEP letter of intent and will visit KU the weekend of May 7-8.

Galindo, a small forward with three-point shooting ability who played his senior year at St. Benedict’s High in Newark, N.J., also is considering Pitt and Rutgers.

“I really don’t know how many visits I will take when I return to the United States, but I can tell you that I am very interested in Kansas,” Galindo, who is in Puerto Rico until next week visiting relatives, told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com.

“I really want to sit down and talk to coach (Bill) Self about where he sees me fitting in and talk to him about playing time. I would like to come in and play right away.”

Giles, the son of former KU player Chester Giles, expects to receive his release from Miami next week.

“C.J. will most definitely take an official visit to Kansas once he receives his release from Miami,” Chester Giles said. “I might even load up my golf clubs and join him on the trip. We hope to have the release later next week, so we will decide on a date to visit after that. My son is very interested in Kansas. That’s where I played college basketball.”

Louisville, Cincinnati, UCLA, Arizona, Washington and Gonzaga also want to talk to Giles.

There is the slight chance KU could have more than one scholarship available in recruiting.

The 5-and-8 rule, which limits schools to a maximum of five scholarships in one year and eight over two years, goes before the NCAA management council next week. If that group decides it wants the rule rescinded, it would move on to the NCAA Board of Directors on May 29-30.

KU also might qualify to receive an extra scholarship under NCAA rule 15.5.4.1.2 which went into effect this past school year.

That rule states that a “school shall qualify for an additional initial counter (player) to be used within a two-year period if during a given academic year the number of initial counters who successfully graduate combined with the number of initial counters who leave the school but are making approximate progress to graduate within five years after initial full-time college enrollment exceeds the number of initial counters awarded by an institution during that year.”

Translated, if Graves and Nash graduate, and the departing Wilkes, Padgett and Niang are making satisfactory progress toward their degrees, KU would be losing five players in good standing and gaining just three. Therefore KU, under this rule, would qualify for an extra player. The problem is by the time graduation rolls around and the final grades of Wilkes, Padgett and Niang are compiled and Kansas is given the OK for an extra grant, recruiting for this year would figure to be over.

Kansas State gained an additional player last year because of this exact rule.

Also Friday, KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony indicated that more than a dozen schools faxed requests asking permission to speak with Padgett about a possible transfer. Marchiony would not list the schools, indicating KU athletic director Lew Perkins had not yet spoken to the Padgett family about the transfer requests.

Asked about the Padgett situation, Self said, in perhaps his final comment on the matter, “That’s old news. We’re trying to move forward.”