Bill Self horses around with participants in his basketball camp Tuesday in Horejsi Center. The camp is held in 11 gyms around town, and Self makes it a point to visit each one daily.

Sitting in the driver’s seat of his blue Lincoln Navigator, Bill Self fiddles with the radio while searching for a suitable rock station.

“Great song,” Self says as U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” is deemed an acceptable choice on the FM Dial.

The streets in Lawrence have names. Kansas University’s fifth-year basketball coach knows that all too well after this week.

One of his tasks during eight days of Bill Self basketball camp is to drive to each of the 11 gyms used to house about 800 8- to 18-year olds.

“Campus is pretty this time of year, isn’t it?” Self asks as he motors past the Chi-O Fountain on West Campus Road onto Jayhawk Boulevard, then down Naismith Drive toward his Allen Fieldhouse office – the coach wrapping up a 21â2-hour trek to five gyms Tuesday night.

He had dropped in the other six gyms during a three-hour morning drive around town.

“Lawrence is very good for camps in large part because the public schools let us use their facilities. If it wasn’t for them letting us rent out their facilities, it wouldn’t be as good. We’re using between 27 and 30 courts day and night,” Self said.

Admitting June is a good time of year to be a college coach – recruiting travels will keep him on the road most of July – Self was in a chipper mood as he parked his vehicle in front of Schwegler School, 2201 Ousdahl, earlier Tuesday evening.

He bear-hugged incoming KU freshman Tyrel Reed, whose dad, Stacy, was in charge of the gym.

“I love working camp. This is my 19th year,” said Stacy Reed, sixth-year boys basketball coach at Burlington High. He was assisted at Schwegler on Tuesday by KU senior center Sasha Kaun and former team manager Stephanie Temple.

“I started coach (Roy) Williams’ first year and have been working camp ever since,” Stacy Reed said.

“Most of these kids are 8,” he added, pointing to 50 or so ‘Little Jayhawks.’ “I work with high school kids all year long. It’s a good change of pace for me working with kids this age.

“You’ve got to keep them very active and give them little things to do. Their attention span is a little shorter.”

Stacy Reed provided a scoop of sorts when he indicated he will not be coaching basketball at Burlington High this season.

“My daughter is here at KU and my son. I just want to come up and be a dad a while,” Stacy said. “I’ve been coaching 20 years. There’s always been a Reed coaching. My dad coached 35 years. It’ll be tough, but I’m looking forward to doing some other things as well.”

Bill Self horses around with participants in his basketball camp Tuesday in Horejsi Center. The camp is held in 11 gyms around town, and Self makes it a point to visit each one daily.

Back in the Navigator, the topic naturally turned to Tyrel Reed as Self drove to stop No. 2 – Lawrence High’s main gym at 1901 Louisiana.

“Tyrel is a good shooter, good athlete. He can shoot the ball,” Self said of the 6-foot-3 all-stater.

Self cautioned that comparisons to ex-Jayhawk Kirk Hinrich were unfair at this point.

“He’s not as fast as Kirk,” Self said, “but he is a good player.”

KU junior guard Brandon Rush, ex-Jayhawk forward Jeff Carey and 1988 KU team manager Mark Perlmutter were three counselors on hand as Self strolled into the LHS gym.

“I run six miles a day. How much do you run?” a curious camper asked a perplexed Rush, whose torn ACL has him inactive for the time being.

Had Rush needed any medical attention at LHS, he could have sought out former KU football player Lance Snyder, an orthopedic surgeon watching his son participate in camp drills.

“What did you shoot today?” Snyder asked of Self, who the doctor assumed had played golf on a beautiful, yet somewhat windy, mid-June day.

“I didn’t play … hey this is camp week,” Self exclaimed.

Camp week is one of the best weeks of the year for Perlmutter, a Denver East basketball coach, who has been a KU camp counselor 17 years.

“I love it. For me, it’s coming back home. This is where I went to school,” Perlmutter said. “I’ve never skipped a year. I’m like everybody else who works camp. I’m here for the kids.”

Of the role of current KU players, who work the various gyms, Perlmutter said: “We have them referee or run drills, talk to the kids. It’s what makes it fun for them – to get to spend time with some of their heroes like Brandon Rush.”

A horde of campers rushed toward Self as he exited for the LHS West gym, another camp site.

“Gosh almighty you guys are a pain in the butt,” Self joked to campers who requested magic marker autographs on their sneakers. “Your moms are going to be mad. I’m ruining all your shoes.”

Former KU and LHS standout Danny Manning and junior walk-on Brad Witherspoon greeted Self as he entered the West gym.

“I think Danny is really happy (in becoming a full-time assistant in his fifth year on the staff),” Self said after re-entering his vehicle for a short jaunt to Central Junior High, 1400 Massachusetts.

“He couldn’t coach in his previous role (director of student-athlete development/team manager). He really loves to teach. He’s going to be great.”

Darren Kay and his son, Allen Kay, 7, listen to Kansas University coach Bill Self's instructions during the Parent/Child basketball camp. The camp started Saturday in Horejsi Center.

Spotted in the remodeled Central gym was KU sophomore Sherron Collins, who coached with a whistle in his mouth.

“You workin’ hard or hardly workin’?” Self said to a group of youths running up and down the court.

After schmoozing with parents and providing pointers to some campers, Self was approached by a middle-aged man as he prepared to head to a final stop at New York Elementary School, 936 New York.

“Hey coach, you look thinner in person,” the man said.

“In other words I must look really fat on TV?” Self responded.

“It must be the suits you wear,” the man quipped, continuing on his way.

“Yeah, the suits,” Self agreed.

The sun set as Self entered New York School’s gym where Russell Robinson gladly posed for pictures.

“Russell’s the best,” Self said of the New York floor general.

Just after 9 p.m. it was about time for the campers to return to their dorms for snacks and bed.

Self bright and early the next morning trekked to Free State High, West Junior High, Langston Hughes, KU Student Recreation Center, Horejsi Center and Allen Fieldhouse to repeat his rounds.

As he wound his way through campus back to the fieldhouse, the family man cell-phoned his wife, Cindy, who was at an undisclosed diamond watching son Tyler play baseball.

“How’s the game going? How’s Tyler doing?” Self said into his phone, informed the game was dragging at a slow pace.

“It’s going to be a late night for Tyler.”

And an equally late one for Tyler’s dad, who still had to tackle some work in his office, the July recruiting evaluation period looming ever so close.

“I do like camp,” said Self, who this afternoon holds a 3 p.m. orientation session for campers enrolled in Week Two of the Bill Self camp. “Our players like the interaction with the kids. I personally enjoy seeing kids who were here for camp my first year and are back for their fifth year.

“You do get familiar with them and their parents. It’s good to see the same faces year to year.”

And the same streets.