Cole Aldrich looked like he was executing moves he learned in preseason boxing-conditioning workouts, bobbing up and down as he shuffled off the Allen Fieldhouse court.

Actually, he was weaving over to the corner cut man – make that the team trainer – after suffering a right hand injury at a recent Kansas University basketball practice.

“We were going fullcourt, and all of a sudden Cole starts hopping around. He said, ‘Oww, my hand,’ in his Minnesota accent,” KU junior center Matt Kleinmann said with a smile.

“We thought it was a hangnail or something. We were like, ‘C’mon, Cole, keep playing.’ A couple minutes later we see it gushing (blood). It was like a movie injury.”

The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Aldrich, who long ago earned his stripes for toughness by weathering coach Bill Self’s basketball Boot Camp and holding his own in 1-on-1 sessions in the paint against veterans Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson, sliced his mitt battling Kaun for a rebound.

“When I came down, all I felt was pain in my hand. I looked down and all you could see was the whole webbing of my hand was ripped open. There’s a big ol’ rip. You don’t see that every day,” Aldrich said.

“I ran over to the sideline (yelling), ‘Look at my hand, it’s ripped open.’ I put a few other choice words in there. It wasn’t bleeding at first. Then it starts gushing blood. My whole hand was filled with blood. There was blood all over the place.”

Aldrich – he tore open the skin on the front of his hand between his thumb and index finger – needed six stitches to close the wound.

Legend has it he wanted to continue practicing, but by the time he was patched, practice was over. He was on the court the next day, ready to go, wearing a heavy wrap which he has continued to wear the past several games.

Just another day at the office for Aldrich, deemed a “tough kid” by demanding coach Self.

“I don’t want to rank him as the toughest (freshman) I’ve been around,” Self said. “I do think this … from where he was to where he is now, there’s not been too many freshmen I’ve coached make that immediate amount of improvement in all areas, including his body. He’s worked hard to get rid of all the body fat and redefine his body since he got here.”

Self said that since Aldrich’s arrival at KU last May, the player went from 270 pounds to his current weight of 240, thanks to a strict regimen of 6 a.m. daily workouts.

Three of the week’s five 6 a.m. workouts included shadow boxing and cardio boxing training under the direction of Haskell’s boxing coach.

“I went through a phase my junior year (at Bloomington, Minn’s Jefferson High). I got a stress fracture in my fibula on my left leg. I sat out a few weeks and started to put on a little weight,” Aldrich said. “When I got here in the summer, the coaches said, ‘We think it’d be great thing to start losing a little weight, get a little more athletic and you’ll be playing better.

“I did the boxing to get endurance, work on my hands and footwork and lose some baby fat. I also met with our nutritionist and said, ‘I’m trying to get down to a good playing weight. What foods can I eat to help me perform better?’ I got a list of different foods to eat throughout the day, and we made a meal plan of what I could eat.”

Though Aldrich has learned to love his fruits and vegetables in toning his body to the point Self says, “He looks good,” the big guy admittedly slips once in a while.

“I do like my Doritos and whatnot,” said Aldrich, who as part of his Minnesota vocabulary spices what seems like every other sentence with the word whatnot.

“I like everything. I love pickles, though. I’ve got a big jar of pickles in the room. I love ’em. I don’t know why I love pickles, but I do.”

On the court, Aldrich has been a factor as KU’s fourth big man in his rookie season. He has averaged 3.0 points and 3.4 rebounds while logging an average of 8.8 minutes in KU’s 31 games.

He has emerged lately in logging 10.7 minutes a game the last six games. Aldrich had 11 points with 11 rebounds on March 3 against Texas Tech and followed that with three points and two boards in 14 minutes in the regular-season finale versus Texas A&M. He had six points and four boards against Colorado on Feb. 16 and six points and nine boards versus Missouri on Feb. 4.

“I think he has a chance to have as productive a college career as those guys on the list, (also realizing) some of them may not be in school long,” Self said of the league’s all-freshman team of Michael Beasley, Bill Walker, Blake Griffin, James Anderson and DeAndre Jordan.

“By the time he gets out of here, he will be on those other teams,” Self added of all-Big 12 first and second teams.

While Aldrich will be called upon on during this weekend’s Big 12 tournament – KU opens against either Missouri or Nebraska at 6 p.m. Friday at Sprint Center – and the NCAAs, it will be next season when his minutes skyrocket.

KU will lose Kaun and Jackson to graduation, while Darrell Arthur is all but certain to declare for the NBA Draft.

That leaves Aldrich and walk-on Kleinmann, as well as newcomers Markieff Morris, Quintrell Thomas and possibly one more big man signee to roam the inside.

“Just a little big, not much,” Aldrich said, asked if he feels pressure to lead the big man group next season. “We trust coach with who we recruited. We’ve got a great amount of guys coming in, seems like 15 guys coming in. They are all great guys and even better players.”

With KU’s penchant to look inside then out, it’s possible Aldrich could put up some dominating numbers his sophomore campaign.

“I guess I’d ask you what ‘dominating’ really is,” Aldrich said. “Is dominating getting 10 rebounds a game? That would be a great goal, maybe one I could set for myself. That’s something I can put on effort, going after every rebound that comes my way.”

Aldrich said he plans to spend almost the entire summer in Lawrence.

“It’s pretty much a great place to be,” said Aldrich, who from May to August likely will be found at the Jaybowl when he’s not playing hoops.

One of the world’s tallest bowlers won a lifetime-activities-class competition in high school with a score of 204. His high score is 214.

“Straight power. I just throw a straight line drive down the middle,” Aldrich said. “Some people think bowling is not that exciting. I love it. I grew up bowling. My grandpa was a really good bowler. He had a few 300 games. I was in a league from kindergarten to sixth grade.

“It’s a way to get out and have fun. Some like to go out. Some like to play golf. I stink (at golf). I’m very tempted to get my own ball and own shoes. It could be a new thing, seeing me at the Jaybowl or whatnot.”

He may like bowling, pickles and speak in a strange (to these parts) dialect, but don’t get the idea Aldrich is any kind of a flake. He’s a respected member of this team.

“He’s a smart player. People don’t realize he’s had to go through a lot of adversity,” Kleinmann said. “As a heralded freshman coming out here, playing against some upperclassmen, he persevered, and he’s playing quality minutes, too. He’s going to be a great player at KU.”