KU junior Mario Little, center, takes a breather with his Blue team teammates Cole Aldrich (left) and Brady Morningstar.

Mario Little sat on a Horejsi Center bench late Wednesday afternoon, gasping for air after a spirited Bill Self basketball camp scrimmage.

“I was tired,” said Little, who scored 13 points off 6-of-12 shooting with four assists and four rebounds in leading the Blue team to a 75-65 victory over the Julian Wright-led Red squad.

“I’m just trying to compete with everybody, make sure I’m not slacking. I’m behind everybody, just trying to hold my own.”

Little, a 6-foot-5 small forward from Chicago, was winded for a reason.

He last played full-court basketball in late March, when his Chipola (Fla.) Community College team was eliminated in the national junior-college playoffs.

“I’ve not been playing. I’ve been trying to get my schoolwork in order,” Little said.

He needed to pass a full load of classes in the spring semester, then complete three summer-school courses in order to gain eligibility at KU.

To do that, he concentrated almost fully on the books, putting basketball on hold.

“I’d go in the gym here and there, but not enough to compete with these guys at Kansas,” Little said. “If I finished (writing) a paper in time, I was able to play with some of the guys. I did not want to have to stay for Summer School Two. I’m already behind. I needed to get here.”

Little received word Tuesday that he’d successfully completed his coursework. So he boarded a flight and arrived in Lawrence shortly after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

After a good night’s sleep, he was ready to take on the task of guarding New Orleans Hornets’ rookie Wright, who like Little, is a former Chicago Public League player.

“I didn’t ask to guard him. I just went up and guarded him,” Little said, giving himself the defensive assignment on the 6-foot-8 Wright, who scored 16 points off 7-of-12 shooting with two rebounds.

“I was going to try to compete with Julian, let him show me a couple things. I think I’m long enough, athletic enough to get stops. I think I’m a good defensive player. Coach Self can help me out with that.”

Wright said Little was tough to shake.

“I think he has a bright future here. He’s long and athletic. He can give people fits on defense as well,” Wright said.

“He guarded me well. I didn’t want to be a virus, a cancer to our team,” added Wright, who said he felt his shot wasn’t there Wednesday. “It was good to see the new guys. I think those young guys have a bright future.”

Wright was especially impressed with the play of incoming freshman point guard Tyshawn Taylor, who dazzled with 19 points off 8-of-11 shooting with four assists.

One of the assists was most memorable.

The New Jersey point guard lobbed a pass from the corner all the way to the goal, where Wright grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed.

“I wasn’t going to throw it at first. He gave me the head nod, so I just tossed it up there, and he went and got it. It was unbelievable … he like got on top of the backboard. It was crazy,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t such a good pass, but he made it look good. He made it look like I knew what I was doing. I didn’t.”

Wright, who had his usual assortment of slams, was pleased to thrill the 1,000 campers.

“I didn’t think I could get it. I came down and saw it rattle in,” Wright said. “I try to have fun, sometimes go for the more crazy play.”

As far as KU’s other newcomers, Quintrell Thomas had 15 points and seven rebounds; Tyrone Appleton 12 points with four assists and Travis Releford seven points. Sophomore Cole Aldrich grabbed a whopping 16 rebounds to go with eight points.

“I was kind of disappointed that there weren’t a lot of guys that came back,” Wright said of the scrimmage that also included ex-Jayhawks Jeff Hawkins, Jeremy Case and Brad Witherspoon.

“But it’s still fun just going out there and competing, while at the same time having fun, having a ball and getting a good look at the new guys.”

Little said he’s looking forward to getting acclimated to his new surroundings and teammates now that he’s aced his summer school classes.

There’s work to be done, now that Mario Chalmers has joined Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush in definitely heading to the NBA.

“Kind of,” Little said, if Chalmers’ Sunday announcement was a bit depressing. “I was looking forward to playing with him, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do. We’ll bond together, though. It’s the most important part, bonding with these guys, getting to know them.”