Julian Wright carried a brand-new Spalding basketball everywhere Monday – around his Jayhawker Towers apartment, on campus, as well as in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’ve been working out with it, walking around with it, getting a feel for it,” Wright, the Jayhawks’ sophomore forward, said referring to the NBA ball, which is a tad different from the Wilson ball he used during his short college career.

“My hands tend to get slick. This ball seems to help with my grip,” he added.

Wright – who declared for the NBA Draft on April 9 with full intention of hiring an agent – hopes fans soon come to grips with his decision to leave KU after two years.

He has been a bit depressed by the reaction of students around campus and folks who see him downtown.

“I don’t read minds, but I do read vibrations pretty well,” Wright said. “It seems I’m looked at as a player who has done something wrong.

“I can understand a lot of people not agreeing with it,” the Chicagoan said of his decision. “But now that everybody has thought about it and now with Brandon (Rush) leaving, I sense everybody is being mad. I sense a lot of people look at you in a different way, look down on you.

“I try to be a positive influence and uplift everyone. To feel the opposite come toward me is kind of unusual. That’s something I have to get used to. If I have to get used to it, I will.”

Wright said “even if people come up to me and congratulate me it feels like it’s half-hearted. Don’t say something if it’s not how you genuinely feel. I’m not saying I don’t want people to come up to speak to me. I feel I’m always approachable. That’s probably why they come up to me.

“People who aren’t as close to you as family say things you’d rather not hear. I realize it’s the world I’m about to live in.”

Some are upset Wright told the media after KU’s season-ending loss to UCLA that he’d definitely be back for year No. 3.

“After the last game of the season, a loss, the last thing I’m worrying about is the NBA. It’s your last loss and I wasn’t thinking about that,” Wright said, admitting he erred when “somebody asked me if I was 100 percent sure. I said, ‘Yeah I’m coming back.’ It was like I’d been defending myself. I said, ‘OK I’m 100 percent sure.'”

Julian Wright and Brandon Rush.

As far as saying in the preseason and in the regular season he would not be entering the 2007 draft, Wright explained: “I definitely thought I’d be back at that time. It’s doing a disservice to the team to think about the NBA during the season. You don’t want teammates messing with chemistry during the season to even give a hint you are thinking about the NBA.

“Nobody who plays here thinks about the NBA during the season. I think this place is so special even in the future I don’t think there will be players talking about the NBA during the season. They talk about running through the (fieldhouse) tunnel, how special it is. The players that come here are thankful to be here and thinking about the games.”

Wright stressed his leaving does not mean he dislikes the school, the coaches or his teammates.

On the contrary, he says he loves everything about Mt. Oread.

It’s just time to take his game to the next level.

“I put a lot of thought into it. I feel I made the best decision for me and my family. It’s hard to put into words,” Wright said.

“I appreciate everyone’s support during my two years here. I want people to know I will definitely represent KU the best way I can in the NBA. I hope they know I want to come back here all the time and show my appreciation as well.”

As far as his immediate future, Wright – who expects to have an agent in place well in advance of the pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla., (May 29-June 1), in which he will take physicals and tests, but not play in camp games – said he will finish semester classes and final exams, then be busy the month of June working out for NBA teams.

He plans on returning to Lawrence in July, however, and to continue mapping out a plan to finish his 40 hours for a college degree.

“I want to be here,” said Wright, who is expected to be a lottery pick (top 14) in the June 18 draft, “but I’ve got to be smart. It’s business now. How I play in the workouts for teams will be important for the draft. After next year I’ll be back in the summer (for Bill Self’s campers pick-up game) for sure.”