Poignant senior speeches laced with humor. A satisfying victory over Nebraska. Been there. Done that.

Kansas University men’s basketball fans are accustomed to leaving Allen Fieldhouse after the home finale with a smile.

Wednesday night was different, though. Two questions nagged at KU fans as they wended their way to their automobiles and began the drive home.

First, they were wondering where they would be sitting in the fieldhouse next season when the revenue generation-fueled priority points system goes into effect.

I saw three or four fans taking pictures of the folks who sat amongst them over the years.

“The sad part,” one of the fans told me, “is they’ll do it every year. You’ll be sitting with different people every year. It’s absurd.”

It’s also inevitable. The priority points system will not go away.

And that brings up to Question No. 2. Will junior Wayne Simien go away, too? Will the 6-foot-9 wheelhorse with the deft touch follow the lead of former Jayhawks Paul Pierce and Drew Gooden and turn pro with a year of college eligibility remaining?

In the cases of Pierce and Gooden, departure was inevitable. Yet Simien may be more like Danny Manning, Raef LaFrentz, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison — KU players who stayed four years and still became NBA lottery picks.

KU's Wayne Simien, front, puts a move on Nebraska's Nate Johnson. Simien had 22 points against NU and said afterward he would return to KU for his senior season.

If Simien has dreams of NBA sugar plums dancing in his head, he sure didn’t sound like it following his 22-point, five-rebound outing against the Cornhuskers.

“Not a chance,” Simien replied when asked if he had played his last game in Allen Fieldhouse. “I plan on having my senior speech next year.”

I believe him. He and fellow juniors Aaron Miles and Keith Langford, the de facto leaders of this year’s team, are a lot like the Three Musketeers. All for one and one for all. They came to Mount Oread together, and from the way the wind seems to be blowing they’ll be leaving together.

How does Miles feel about Simien?

“Yeah, I’d like for him to stay. We came together,” Miles said. “But I’m not worried about that stuff right now. We’re worried about this season.”

Langford, however, was a bit more outspoken, saying: “I want Dub to give his senior speech, but if God blesses him with millions of dollars, I’d be the first to tell him to get the heck out of here.”

Langford might not be the first one. KU coach Bill Self could have that distinction.

6Sports video: KU continues Senior Night winning streak Watch and hear the speeches: Senior players bid farewell Jayhawks flourish Woodling: Seating unsettled, but Simien staying NU: Crowd lifted Kansas Langford entertains See the photos: KU-NU photo gallery Get the stats: KU-NU box score Hear Bill: KU-NU postgame comments 6News video: Capt. Loudon gets hero’s welcome

“Wayne and I have talked briefly,” Self said, “and who knows what will happen? Right now I don’t think there are any thoughts about him leaving after this year.”

But this is March, and it’s a long, long way until late June and the NBA Draft.

“We’re all planning on having him back,” Self added, “but I’ve been around long enough that you never know.”

Simien is a lock for a first-team All-Big 12 Conference berth, but whether he is ready for the NBA is debatable. Some pro scouts think he isn’t quite tall enough play inside and that he is not a good enough defender to hold his own against the best basketball players in the world.

On the flip side, Simien possesses a variety of shots with an uncommon touch for someone his size. Moreover, Big Dub has shown this season he has recovered fully from last year’s serious shoulder injury and, perhaps more important, perform at a high level with nagging knee and groin injuries.

Simien has played in 25 of KU’s 26 games. He was held out against Fort Hays State because Self decided to give him some recuperation time in a game that would in reality end soon after tipoff.

Simien has scored in double figures in 22 of those 25 games and posted double-digit rebound totals in eight of them. He has been everything and more they said he would be when he was a touted prep at Leavenworth High.

If Simien does return for his senior season, he’ll be touted in the preseason as one of the top players in the country.

“He could legitimately,” Self said, “be a player-of-the-year candidate next year.”

All in all, it would appear KU fan seat locations will be more of an uncertainty over the next couple of months than what uniform Simien will be wearing next year.