There are a whopping 17 players on Kansas University’s men’s basketball roster.

Of that huge group of hoop hopefuls, as few as 12 or 13 could play in KU’s four Labor Day weekend exhibition games in Canada, second-year Jayhawk coach Bill Self said Thursday before running his players through their first of 10 pre-Canada practice sessions.

“If there’s a 5 percent chance, let’s say a 10 percent chance somebody could red-shirt, we will not play them on the trip,” Self said, citing an NCAA rule that states players who compete in exhibition games cannot take a red-shirt to save a year of eligibility.

“I’ve already talked to them (players) about it: ‘Why would you want to go to Canada and play a total of six minutes and not have an opportunity to do something to your benefit over time?’

“It’s a bad rule. They should allow everybody to play and then you make a decision, but it’s an NCAA rule.”

Self didn’t specifically mention players he was considering as red-shirt candidates.

“I really doubt we’ll red-shirt any of the freshmen,” he said of scholarship rookies Alex Galindo, C.J. Giles, Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson. “I think all freshmen will be contributors.”

KU does have a plethora of perimeter players, with a possible red-shirt or two coming from that group.

“I don’t know who it’ll be,” Self said. “We have eight perimeter players and probably will only play five or six. There’s definitely some holes there.”

Kansas University freshman Russell Robinson, left, chats with coach Bill Self before practice. The Jayhawks worked out Thursday at Horejsi Center in preparation for their upcoming trip to Canada.

One of the perimeter players is sophomore Jeremy Case, who was seldom-used a year ago. Case, who will try to earn minutes in preseason camp, said there was a chance he could red-shirt — practice, but not play in games.

“If it comes down to where I’m not really going to get that many minutes a game, then yeah, I’ll definitely consider that,” Case said.

As far as inside players, Self envisions quite a battle for the open spot in the lineup next to Wayne Simien.

“I would hope the three (freshmen) big guys and Christian (Moody) will literally try to beat each other up every possession to see who plays next to Wayne,” Self said.

Self said he was “much more excited about this season than last season. I think I know a lot better how to coach and relate to these guys and am excited about our recruiting class.”

6Sports video: KU basketball practices for Canada tour Hear Bill: Aug. 19 press conference

Workouts: The Jayhawks, who will practice two of every three days until Sept. 3 when they leave for Canada, are allowed to practice four hours per day.

“It’ll be like spring football, building depth charts,” Self said. “At practice we might as well go hard. They are not in shape. We’re not going to kill them.”

KU senior Keith Langford talks to the media before practice. The Jayhawks appeared Thursday at Horejsi Center as they began workouts to prepare for an exhibition trip to Canada.

Said he would not have his assistants do scouting reports on any of the four exhibition opponents. He hoped the Jayhawks would sightsee Sept. 4 after playing a 2 p.m. CST exhibition versus British Columbia.

• New look: Keith Langford has a new hair style — braided cornrows. “There’s not a lot to do during the summer, so I have to entertain myself,” Langford deadpanned.
• Giddens OK: J.R. Giddens will take part in all 10 workouts despite just recently recovering from offseason knee and ankle surgery and an ankle sprain.

“The foot and knee are holding up. I’ve been rehabbing very hard, lifting weights and doing everything I can to get back out on the court,” Giddens said. “I’m going out there full-throttle. I think some of my time might be limited, but that’s just because I might not be in shape foot-wise and knee-wise for me to go the whole time.”

• This, that: Jeff Hawkins was the only Jayhawk not to practice Thursday. Self said the junior guard was tending to personal business … KU has sold 250 tickets for each of the four exhibition games in Canada. Deadline for ticket purchases is 5 p.m. Aug. 25. For tickets, call 1-800-34-HAWKS. … Ex-Jayhawk Alonzo Jamison has accepted a position as assistant varsity coach at Mill Valley High. A Shawnee resident, Jamison works full-time as a sales rep at Jerry’s Sports Shop in Grandview, Mo.
• Recruiting: KU will have two recruiting visitors from Dallas next weekend. Kevin Rogers, a 6-8 forward from South Oak Cliff High, told rivals.com he had decided to visit KU the same weekend as buddy C.J. Miles, 6-5 from Dallas Skyline. Both have said they might commit to KU if they had good visits.

Kansas University basketball players Darnell Jackson, right, and Alex Galindo run during practice. The Jayhawks worked out Thursday at Horejsi Center.