NBA talk: Self says Aldrich, Collins high picks

Kansas coach Bill Self was asked where he feels junior Cole Aldrich and senior Sherron Collins will be taken in the 2010 NBA Draft. It’s all but certain the 6-foot-11 Aldrich will head to the pros after this campaign.

“I think Cole’s going to be in the discussion — I could be wrong on this — to be somewhere in those top seven or eight picks with a chance to go real, real high,” Self said. “If he has an unbelievable year, maybe he could go in the top three. If he improves at the same rate that he did last year and gets better, I think he will be a very high draft pick, but I’m not sure he’s the best player on our team. I think he’s the best prospect.

“I think Sherron is a fabulous college player. I think by him coming back, hopefully that will give him an opportunity to really play himself and solidify himself as a first-round draft pick, which I think he should be, if he has a good year,” Self added.

Self on the Hall of Fame Showcase opener:

“You talk about Louisville, which was a No. 1 seed last year, and they will always be a perennial Top-10 team. You talk about Arkansas, which is coached by John Pelphrey, and he will do a great job. They are getting their feet under themselves. That will be a fabulous game because both teams will play very fast and press.

“To have a doubleheader of this magnitude in front of a sold-out house, I think will definitely tip off the college basketball season right.”

More on the ’08 title game

“An immature team could not have won that game,” Self said, still amazed KU erased a nine-point deficit in the final 2:12. “Had that team not lost to Bradley and maybe to UCLA in the Elite Eight game the year before, I don’t know if we would have been prepared. To see that all come together was pretty special from a coach’s perspective. To see how it happened made it more special for me personally.”

Recruiting

Self today was to make an in-home recruiting visit with the family of Josh Selby, a 6-2 senior point guard from Lake Clifton High in Baltimore.