Bleary eyed from watching hours of film on Lehigh University’s basketball team, Bill Self has gained a clearer picture of Kansas University’s first-round NCAA Tournament foe.

“It’s coach (Danny) Manning’s scout, but I’ve watched enough tape to get a feel,” KU coach Self said of Lehigh — the Patriot League regular-season and postseason tournament champs who take a 22-10 record into Thursday’s first-round NCAA Midwest Regional game against the 32-2 Jayhawks (8:40 p.m., Oklahoma City’s Ford Center).

“They want to score as fast as possible,” Self said, noting third-year coach Brett Reed’s Mountain Hawks average 75.1 points a game while allowing 70.

“They have a freshman — C.J. McCollum (who) I hope you don’t hear a lot about during the game. He averages 19 points (18.9, and 4.9 rebounds) a game,” Self added, speaking on Monday’s Hawk Talk radio show.

Self is mighty impressed with McCollum, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound freshman guard from Canton, Ohio, who was named both the Patriot League’s player of the year and freshman of the year.

“Fans may not remember this … Indiana had a kid 20 years ago named Jay Edwards, slender, good sized, 6-foot-3, was long and could shoot it and play combo guard. He reminds me so much (of Edwards), and Jay was a pro,” Self said.

McCollum is a 46.6 percent shooter. He’s made 70 of 163 three-pointers for 42.9 percent. He has 76 assists against 61 turnovers with 40 steals.

“They are well-coached and don’t give up easy baskets,” Self said of the Mountain Hawks, who have made 45.6 percent of their shots to the opposition’s 42.2 percent. Lehigh has made 40 percent of its threes to its foes’ 34.4 percent mark.

“Whoever wins our game will play a really tough opponent Saturday,” Self added of a second-round matchup against either UNLV (25-8) or Northern Iowa (28-4). Game time for that contest won’t be announced until after KU’s game on Thursday night.

“Northern Iowa plays a defensive-minded game with long possessions. They hold people to 54 points a game (54.3, while averaging 63.3). There’s not a lot of baskets to be had,” Self said. “UNLV presses and wants to get up and down and can play small. There are contrasts. We’ve got to be prepared for whatever.”

On Sunday night, Self agreed with CBS-TV announcers who said KU’s regional appeared to be the toughest of the four. Upon further review, it still appears an accurate assessment of the field, KU’s coach indicated.

The Midwest Regional has Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland and Michigan State as seeds two through five. The No. 6 (Tennessee) and 7 (Oklahoma State) seeds are teams that defeated the twice-beaten Jayhawks.

“I don’t think being the No. 1 overall seed … just from looking at it I don’t think it was a big advantage to us,” Self said. “I do think being a No. 1 seed is an advantage.

“I don’t think we should get hung up on this. In the NCAA Tournament, you’ve got to play good teams. We are not going to bellyache about that. The bottom line is you have to win a two-game tournament to put yourself in position for high stakes the next weekend (in St. Louis).”

Explanation of scout: KU’s assistant coaches have a responsibility of preparing scouting reports for every team on the schedule. The coaches split up the duties during the season. As stated above, assistant Danny Manning is in charge of preparing the scouting report on KU’s first round foe, Lehigh.

Times

The Jayhawks were expected to leave Allen Fieldhouse around 1 p.m. today for their bus trip to Oklahoma City, Self said. … KU will hold a shootaround from 5:10 until 5:50 p.m., Wednesday in Ford Center. It is open to the public. Lehigh’s shootaround will run from 6:40 until 7:20 p.m.

Awards

KU’s Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich were named to the 2009-10 U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-America Team on Monday. Collins was tapped first-team; Aldrich second-team. The two are eligible for the USBWA’s national player of the year award, which will be announced March 22. Collins was a second-team pick last year. He is also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (country’s top point guard), which will be announced April 1. Members of the USBWA first team: Collins, Wesley Johnson, Syracuse; Scottie Reynolds, Villanova; Evan Turner, Ohio State; John Wall, Kentucky. Second team: Aldrich, James Anderson, Oklahoma State; DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky; Luke Harangody, Notre Dame; Jon Scheyer, Duke.

Collins and Aldrich also have made the final cut and appear on the Wooden Award ballot. In all, there are 26 players up for that award.

Recruiting

Doron Lamb, a 6-4, 175-pound senior shooting guard from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., will announce his college choice at the Jordan All-America game April 17 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Lamb, who is Rivals.com’s No. 21-rated player, is considering KU, Arizona, UConn, Kentucky and West Virginia. No. 4-ranked Josh Selby, 6-2 from Baltimore’s Lake Clifton High, also will announce his choice at the Jordan game. He has a list of KU, Arizona, UConn, Kentucky and Syracuse.

Predictions

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has predicted a Final Four of Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova. He has KU playing Kentucky in the NCAA title game with John Calipari’s Wildcats emerging as champs.

“Now that the brackets have been posted, I feel, and this is purely subjective, the toughest region is the Midwest, which has three coaches who have won national titles: Bill Self, Gary Williams and Tom Izzo. How about a second-round matchup of Maryland-Michigan State?” Vitale wrote for USA Today.

Dooley on list

The Charlotte Observer lists KU assistant Joe Dooley as a likely candidate for the vacant Charlotte position. The school fired coach Bobby Lutz on Monday. Others: K-State assistant Dalonte Hill, Siena coach Fran McCaffery, Wright State coach Brad Brownell and Wofford coach Mike Young.

Grade champions

KU’s basketball team has won the 2010 Inside Higher Ed Magazine’s academic performance NCAA Tournament.

The magazine annually conducts a competition, using the NCAA bracket, based on what the tournament would look like if teams advanced based solely on their performance in the classroom. The magazine based results on the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR). Go here to see the entire bracket.