Kansas' Darrell Arthur runs by as teammate Russell Robinson attempts to steal the ball from UCLA's Josh Shipp on Saturday, March 24, 2007, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Ca.

A confident Darrell Arthur returned to the basketball court Monday after six weeks of rest and rehab designed to heal a stress fracture in his left leg.

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Arthur, Kansas University’s 6-foot-9, 225-pound sophomore forward, trusting results of X-rays that deemed his leg “100 percent healed.”

“I didn’t favor the leg. I did the whole workout. I did everything. The rehab worked pretty fine,” Arthur added Tuesday, indicating he felt no pain 24 hours after his first individual workout of the 2007-08 school year.

“I can do (individual) workouts this week and start playing pick-up next week. Hopefully I’ll jump right back in there.”

Arthur, who was forced to leave USA Basketball’s Under-19 Select team after being diagnosed with a stress fracture July 6, said his six weeks on the injured list proved trying at times.

“I missed playing a lot,” Arthur said. “I just tried to concentrate on rehab – bone stem (treatments) and workouts in the pool, basically letting it heal on its own. I was still able to lift weights and do upper body work. I’m happy to be back.”

Arthur deeply regrets not being able to compete for the Under 19 team, which ultimately placed second to host Serbia at the FIBA World Championships.

“I was pretty surprised. I thought they were going to get first,” said Arthur, who kept in close contact with Texas A&M’s DeAndre Jordan during the tourney. “I’m happy they handled business and got second place.

“They were pretty sad (they didn’t win title). They put in a lot of work, (but) they know it’s good to get second instead of not placing at all.”

Under 19 head coach Jerry Wainwright of DePaul said he would have preferred going to battle with Arthur, who was the squad’s top player at training camp.

“When we lost him, we lost not only a versatile frontcourt player, but a leader. Especially going on the road to a foreign country : he’s not a young man, but a man,” Wainwright said.

Arthur was touched to hear Wainwright’s comments.

“He congratulated me on coming back from my injury, being healthy and stuff,” Arthur said.

Arthur said he’s “not sure” if the U.S. would have won with him on the same court as Jordan, Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, North Carolina’s Deon Thompson, Arkansas’ Patrick Beverley, Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan and others.

“I think I was pretty key to it. I was one of the captains of the team when I was there,” Arthur said. “Hopefully I could have motivated them a little more. They did a good job without me. It was a close team that had great chemistry. I look forward to staying in touch with all of them.”

Arthur grinned when asked about Under-19 teammate Beasley’s comments regarding this year’s Kansas-Kansas State series.

At a recent Topeka Catbacker event, Beasley boasted: “We’re going to beat KU at home. We’re going to beat them at their house. We’re going to beat them in Africa. Wherever we play we’re going to beat ’em.”

“I heard about that,” Arthur said. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I know we’re going to handle business like we always do every year. I’m not even thinking about that. We’ll make sure we go out there, put in a good game and get a good win.”

Asked if it was unwise of Beasley to provide KU bulletin board material, Arthur said: “Ali did it and see where it got him … so I don’t know.”

Muhammad Ali used to brag before fights, winning most of them during his stellar heavyweight boxing career.

¢ Keeping up with Joneses: KU is recruiting Kevin Jones, a 6-7 power forward from Mt. Vernon (N.Y.) High School and Mookie Jones, a 6-6 small forward from Peekskill (N.Y.) High.

Kevin Jones is Rivals.com’s No. 79 player in the Class of 2008. He told Rivals.com he’s considering KU, Kentucky, Indiana, Syracuse, Connecticut, Florida, Louisville, Massachusetts, Memphis, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and St. Joseph’s.

Mookie Jones, the No. 40 player, told Rivals his list consists of KU, DePaul, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

The Joneses, who are not related, are best friends and want to attend the same school. Both will grant in-home visits to KU coach Bill Self in September.

“Kansas is losing a lot of great players after the season, so Kevin and Mookie could come in and be immediate impact players,” Kevin’s brother, Gerald Jones, told Rivals.