Detroit ? Understandable suspicion greeted Brandon Rush in his first days as a student-athlete at Kansas University.

For one thing, there was the issue of his tangled high school transcripts. He had been to so many schools, including one that folded and another known more for X’s and O’s than ABC’s. The NCAA Clearinghouse was having trouble making sense of it all. The agonizing drama of waiting to hear word on Rush’s status dragged into the school year.

And then there was the issue of his last name. JaRon Rush didn’t win any points by referring to former KU coach Roy Williams as “Roy,” in a quote in which the player questioned the coach’s style. Williams dropped him as a recruit. Strike 1.

Kareem Rush had starred at Missouri, of all places. Strike 2.

Fears arose that because Rush spent a year at Mount Zion Academy in North Carolina – a classic roll-out-the-ball program – he never would buy into the team concept, never would play a lick of defense. He quickly dispelled such fears and was eager to improve. Still, Rush’s popularity lagged behind his productivity because the fear he would be a one-and-done player lingered. In the locker room after the loss to Bradley, Rush said he would return. But for how long? One more year. After his sophomore season, he declared for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent and was projected to be taken late in the first round. Then his knee gave out during a pickup basketball game.

“I thought it was a bad knee sprain or something like that,” Rush said. “I went to the ground and popped right back up, ran right back on the court and started playing a little bit more. Then it started swelling up real big. When they told me it was an ACL, I was like, ‘Why me? Why did this happen to me, especially at this time?'”

He’ll re-enter the draft this year. His coach, Bill Self, indicated as much during the Big 12 tournament, saying he was leaving last year so there’s no reason to believe he won’t this year. It’s no longer an issue, and Rush has the class not to comment on it now, when KU is one victory away from the Final Four for the third time in Self’s five years at Kansas.

Asked if he expects to go in about the same spot in the draft as he was projected a year ago, Rush started to answer by saying, “I hope … “

Then he caught himself and said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Then he smiled and said, “You tried to catch me there.”

He’ll go to the NBA with everybody’s blessings. He worked hard to bring his knee back to life.

“I think I’m pretty much the exact same guy I was last year, being able to attack the rim, being able to jump like I used to,” he said. “One thing I’m lacking right now is the lateral movement on the defensive end. I still don’t have that back yet.”

He’s close to having it. And he’s close to the Final Four for the second year in a row. When he steps off the plane at Forbes Field Airport in Topeka today, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 10:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., a nice ovation from hard-core supporters will greet him. A half-hour later, when he steps off the bus at Allen Fieldhouse, he’ll receive another spirited one. He has earned them.