Bill Self on Wednesday afternoon received a signed letter of intent from Tyrel Reed, a 6-foot-3 senior from Burlington High.

Reed, who averaged 23.6 points a game last year, will play both point guard and shooting guard at KU.

“He is a 6-3 combo guard that can play both on the ball and off the ball because he is an excellent shooter,” Self said of Reed, who chose KU over Oklahoma, Missouri, Stanford, Missouri State and others.

Self elected to make a last-minute scholarship offer to Reed after losing wing players Kyle Singler and James Anderson to Duke and Oklahoma State.

“We’ve been recruiting Tyrel for the past three years, and because of our limited scholarship situation had been encouraging him to sign in the spring. We felt there would be a scholarship available then. Since we did not sign a wing in the fall, we did everything we could to try to convince Tyrel to sign now. This is a great signing for us, an exciting day for Tyrel, his family and everyone that supports Kansas basketball.”

Reed and Cole Aldrich, 6-11 from Bloomington, Minn., are KU’s early signees. The Jayhawks currently are one over their 12-man scholarship limit for next year, though KU can put off its NCAA penalty a year if it so desires. It’s expected Brandon Rush will turn pro after the season, which would cut KU back to 12.

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Bechard ill: Sophomore walk-on Brennan Bechard did not attend the game because of a bout with the flu.

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Guarantee: ORU not only won, but received guarantee money of $65,000 for playing the Jayhawks.

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Liberty played at WSU: Oral Roberts point guard Adam Liberty, who scored 12 points with eight turnovers, was a teammate of former KU player J.R. Giddens on Oklahoma City John Marshall High’s 2003 Class 5A state championship team.

Liberty played two seasons at Wichita State, then transferred to ORU, where he has taken over as starting point guard for his cousin, Jonathan Bluitt, who finished last season as the second-leading assist man in ORU history.

Bluitt is still with the team as a student assistant.

“It really wasn’t my style (of play),” said Liberty, who averaged 2.4 points and 2.9 assists per game his sophomore season at WSU.

“I’m used to getting up and down. Coach (Mark) Turgeon wanted the point guard to stay out front and run the offense. I didn’t have anything against him, but it didn’t fit me. Over here, I’m free to play my style.”

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Big game for J.R.: Ex-Jayhawk Giddens, who erupted for 25 points off 11-of-19 shooting with nine rebounds in New Mexico’s 106-65 rout of Colorado on Monday night, was asked by reporters about his days at KU.

“Kansas what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giddens told an Albuquerque Journal reporter while tapping his sneakers together. “I’m going to click my heels. I’m not in Kansas anymore.”

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Excitement: ORU senior Ken Tutt fired the ball high into the air, the ball landing in the stands after the final horn.

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Amazing Green: ORU senior Caleb Green, who burned KU for 20 points and eight assists with five steals, is one of 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Wooden Award, given annually to the country’s top college basketball player. KU’s Rush and Julian Wright are also on the list. The midseason top 30 will be named in January. On March 27, the 10-player Wooden All-American team will be announced. The Wooden Award recipient will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on April 7.

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Praise of Self: Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton on KU’s Self, who started his career at ORU: “He is very well thought-of. You realize what type of job he did here and what type of coach he is. He’s a terrific coach and person. He’ll always be well thought-of on our campus. He took over a program that was in bad shape. In four years he was able to get us to the NIT and put us back on the map.”