For Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self, it’s business as usual as he prepares for Saturday’s game at his alma mater, Oklahoma State.

“This will be no different than any other road trip,” Self, KU’s fifth-year coach, said Thursday.

He and the Jayhawks will bus four hours to Stillwater after today’s practice.

“We’ll go shoot (tonight at Gallagher-Iba Arena), watch tape, get up the next morning, watch tape, not see anybody. There will not be any social things going on until after the game is over,” Self added.

Self plans to focus on Saturday’s 3 p.m. contest between No. 4-ranked KU (24-2, 9-2) and OSU (13-12, 4-7). That doesn’t mean Self’s many friends and relatives in Oklahoma can’t be extra enthused about the Jayhawks’ trip to red clay country, however.

“My gosh, how can it ever be old hat? It’s a big thrill, unbelievable thrill for me to see Bill’s teams play,” said Edmond Memorial High athletic director Mike de la Garza, who coached Self from 1977 to ’81 at EMHS, a school located 15 miles north of Oklahoma City.

“There will be a whole entourage of people – people Bill played with and against – at the game,” de la Garza noted.

“I remember the ovation Bill got the first time he came back to Stillwater as Kansas coach (80-60 loss in 2004). When does a head coach of the opposing team step on the court and get an ovation from the opposing crowd? It’s what happened. It’s a tribute to the guy and the people of Oklahoma State, who are class.

“I’m excited to see the game. You just are nervous as a cat hoping they (Self’s Jayhawks) do well,” added de la Garza, who watched cool-customer point guard Self hit six game-winning shots his senior year in 1981 before moving on to a successful playing career at OSU (1982-85).

De la Garza remembers Self’s days at Edmond High as if they were yesterday. Self led the school to the state finals once and semifinals twice.

“He was a ravenous winner, ferocious in his desire to win. It rubbed off on everybody. As a student, he was a mainstreamer. The kids just loved him,” de la Garza said. “He was involved in everything and as prominent as anybody I’ve seen in my 32 years here. He’s the real deal. Those guys are hard to find. You’ve got one right there, the real deal.”

Now working for KU, not OSU where he assisted both Leonard Hamilton and Eddie Sutton from 1987 to ’93, Self won’t be tempted to walk down memory lane until after the game.

“That hasn’t been home for me in a long time,” Self said of Stillwater. “It certainly didn’t feel like home when Eddie (Sutton) had us down 42 when I was at Oral Roberts (94-52 loss in 1993). Since I’ve left there we’ve played at Gallagher four times. It’s been an unhappy ride home for three of ’em. Hopefully we’ll play better this time.”

Self is 1-3 coaching at his alma mater – 0-2 as Oral Roberts coach, 1-1 as Jayhawk boss. As KU coach he is 5-3 in games played in the state of Oklahoma.

Last year, Self’s Jayhawks handed then first-year coach Sean Sutton’s Cowboys a 87-57 spanking in Allen Fieldhouse. Self was assistant coach when Sean Sutton played at OSU. Point guard Sean Sutton helped the Cowboys to two Sweet 16 appearances.

“He wasn’t the fastest guy I’ve every coached,” Self said with a smile. “Sean was a great competitor. He could manage a game well. He was a great post feeder. We had some good guys to throw it to. He was a terrific shooter, a very good three-point shooter. It’s not a coincidence we got better when coach Sutton came along. Also give Sean credit. He was a nice piece to that puzzle. He was a very good college player.”

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He’s staying: Self on Thursday was again asked to address rumors that Oklahoma State will try to hire him if second-year Cowboy coach Sean Sutton is replaced at the end of this season. Speaking at his weekly news conference, Self, KU’s fifth-year coach reiterated it’s a “dead issue.”

“It’s not going to happen so to be honest with you, it is a disservice to everybody involved to call attention to it,” Self said, asked if he pays attention to Internet message boards and blogs that insist OSU booster Boone Pickens wants Self to coach the Cowboys.

“The only thing I know about any of that,” OSU grad Self said, “is that people (media) have requested to interview me about it, and I haven’t (done the interviews). I don’t get on any blogs. I don’t care what anybody says. I think it’s an injustice to their present staff because they deserve every opportunity to do as well as they can possibly do.

“I don’t think anybody in the know or anybody I personally know … they know me and know what our situation is here. That hasn’t been anything that has remotely come up with me. It’s not worth talking about because it’s a dead issue.”

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Collins banged up:Sherron Collins says his bruised right knee – which has kept him from practicing since last weekend’s victory over Colorado – won’t prevent him from playing Saturday.

“It’s a little painful. I’m a little bruised up. I played through it Saturday. I’ll play through it this Saturday, my normal minutes, whatever coach asks me to do,” Collins said Thursday.

He worked out in the pool and on the side, but did not go through contact drills Thursday.

“It’s headed in the right direction. I just will try to not let it get hit again,” said Collins, who suffered the injury after bumping knees with a teammate last Thursday at practice. He originally hurt the knee on Feb. 2 at Colorado.

Collins had surgery earlier this season to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, an injury that forced him to miss six games. He also suffered a severe right ankle sprain this campaign after having tendinitis in his left knee late last season.

“I hold up pretty good. I’d probably play through anything if I could,” Collins said.

Self said he hoped Collins would be able to play Saturday but “would not be 100 percent.”

Russell Robinson noted: “I think he’ll be limited, but still be able to contribute to the team. He’s great in transition. When he’s not out there we miss him a lot.”

Self aid seniors Darnell Jackson and Rodrick Stewart, who were not feeling well and missed practice Thursday, were expected to return today, Self said.

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New building coming: One of the topics at Saturday’s 110 Years of Basketball Reunion banquet was a fundraising effort going on to build a state-of-the-art basketball practice facility for KU’s men’s basketball team. It is believed the facility will be erected next to Horejsi Center. Horejsi would remain for volleyball and the women’s basketball team. Details on the facility should be forthcoming in March.