What makes the NCAA Tournament so beautiful also is what made the 2005 edition so ugly for Kansas University’s men’s basketball players, coaches and fans.

“The little guy can play great and win on a given night,” St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts said.

He, along with the rest of Jayhawk Nation, was saddened and surprised by No. 3-seeded KU’s 64-63 first-round tourney loss to No. 14 seed Bucknell on Friday in Oklahoma City.

“It’s the reason the NCAA is what it is … it happened to Syracuse (losing to Vermont) and to Connecticut (losing to N.C. State), too,” said Roberts, a member of Bill Self’s KU coaching staff during last year’s Elite Eight season. “It’s a great thing about the tournament, but it isn’t great when it happens to you.”

Roberts viewed the KU-Bucknell drama — the biggest upset in Round One — from his New York home.

“I hurt watching it,” Roberts said. “I still care about those kids and coaches (at KU). It bothered me and my whole family.”

He’s known Self for a long time, having assisted him at Tulsa and Illinois, and Roberts was instrumental in landing KU’s five-man freshman class.

“I know how much those kids hurt and those coaches hurt — all the time they put in for it to end so abruptly,” Roberts said. “Does it sting now? Yes. The tournament is still going on.

“A couple weeks from now, we’ll all get over it. Life is not over. The future will be fine (because) you’ve got the best (coach) at Kansas.”

6Sports video: Miles to play in Portsmouth Invitational (03-24-05) 6News video: Bucknell T-shirt sales rising (03-24-05) Woodling: Carolina will have to wait (03-25-05) At KU’s expense, MU fans getting more bang for their Bucknell T-shirts (03-25-05)

Roberts directed St. John’s to a 9-18 record in his first season, which was considered a great success considering he inherited a probation-riddled program with just eight scholarship players.

He gave his take on what may have happened to KU:

“If ever a game Cinderella had the slipper on, it was that one. Keith (Langford) hit two huge free throws, I mean huge ones,” Roberts said of charities that gave the Jayhawks a 63-62 lead at :24.

“They come down, and a kid who is not a great scorer scores off a jump hook that banked in straight on,” Roberts said of Chris McNaughton, who hit a hook at :08.

“How in the world does that go in if Cinderella doesn’t have the slipper on that night?” an animated Roberts bellowed. “Then, Wayne (Simien) gets a great look at a shot that if he takes 10 times he makes eight. But this time it didn’t go down.”

Simien missed a jumper at the buzzer.

As far as KU finishing the season 23-7 after dropping six of their final nine games, Roberts said: “They had a lot of talent but I think it’s tough to coach a team with a lot of injuries, guys in and out of practice.

“Injuries hurt continuity. Keith gets injured, then sick … you want to go into the NCAAs full-throttle and they didn’t go in full-throttle. Still, a lot of people would give an arm and a leg to go 23-7 and be a buzzer shot away from maybe going a long way.”

Roberts said he had talked to his buddy, Self, since the tourney ended.

“He feels bad, disappointed the team didn’t perform better. He’ll get over it. It’s part of the business. If anybody knows it, Coach knows it,” Roberts said. “In recruiting you hear ‘no’ a lot more than yes and you also move on. Remember, only one team will walk away happy when this thing is over.”

Roberts has not spoken to the players.

“I never call any players from places I worked previously,” said Roberts, who did not want to comment on the fact Roy Williams had spoken with his former players at KU the past two years.

“If a kid was to call me, I’d call the coach and tell him because kids should only be hearing one voice. I am firmly against talking to players until they graduate.”

Thus, he’s not spoken to Russell Robinson, the KU freshman guard from New York who struggled his rookie season and has been the subject of transfer rumors.

“I think he can have a great career at KU,” Roberts said. “He’ll find his niche. He’s a great kid, and I know Coach likes him a lot. Sometimes it takes time.

“They will all get better,” he said of the KU rookies. “They all will be good. One of the things, players will grow, get better and confident. They are talented.”

Robinson has told media he was staying at KU.

“He should,” Roberts said. “Kansas is an unbelievable place, on national TV all the time. As a point guard, who wouldn’t want to play for the best coach in the country?”

Asked what he’d tell a hurting Jayhawk Nation, Roberts said: “Well, I’d tell people there you are blessed to have a terrific tradition and terrific players and coaches in the program, with a staff that does it the right way and works hard. The tradition is in great hands.”

St. John’s, another school with great tradition, is rebuilding under the patient Roberts, who next year will be eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament after a year’s absence because of sanctions.

“I’m happy we started a foundation of working hard, playing hard and unselfish, caring for each other,” Roberts said. “We were 9-18 and people have been saying, ‘Great year.’ I tell the guys this was a mirage, next year we’ll be dealing with the real world. We’ll have 12 guys on scholarship, and 9-18 won’t be considered a great year.”

¢

Portsmouth update: KU senior Aaron Miles will play in the Portsmouth Invitational tournament for NBA scouts on April 6-9, in Portsmouth, Va. So far, 18 players have accepted bids. It’s believed Keith Langford may skip Portsmouth and attend the Chicago draft camp in May.