Kansas head coach Bill Self is all smiles as he is greeted by media members as he exits the team bus outside the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. The Jayhawks arrived Tuesday evening and are scheduled to practice Wednesday at 5:10 p.m. at the Ford Center.

Oklahoma City ? Seventh-year Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self has said many times, and said again after exiting KU’s charter bus Tuesday night at the Downtown OKC Sheraton Hotel, that “Lawrence is home right now.”

So what does that make Oklahoma City for the 47-year-old Self, who hails from the nearby suburb of Edmond?

“Home, home,” he said with a smile.

Seriously, folks …

“Coming back here, you know what? There’s really not a feeling from a sentimental standpoint. I wish I could see all my boys because I’ve got a lot of them here in town, and I’d love to hang out with them for a little while, but I’m not going to,” said Self, focused entirely on Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament clash against Lehigh (8:40 p.m., Ford Center) and a possible second-round matchup Saturday against UNLV or Northern Iowa.

“I wish I could go see my parents, and I’m not going to. I may not see them the entire trip. They’re going to be at the game, but that doesn’t mean I’ll see them. I’ll get down here after the season and do all that kind of stuff. It does feel good to be home, because for whatever reason, people around here have always treated me really well. I love my roots and all that stuff, but certainly Lawrence is home right now.”

Oklahoma City is also “home, home” for KU freshman Xavier Henry, who figures to be a key factor in the Jayhawks’ postseason hopes this year.

“I haven’t really said much to him,” Self said of Henry. “I said, ‘Are you going to be too geeked up going back home?’ He said, ‘No, not at all.’ He played in Stillwater (in KU’s 85-77 loss Feb. 27 at Oklahoma State). If we were coming from somewhere like Minneapolis here, maybe, but a five-hour bus ride isn’t one you can’t make every two or three months and have close friends and family come see you play (in Allen Fieldhouse).

“I don’t think it’ll be quite as big a deal, but I do know it was special when Darnell came home,” he added of OKC native Darnell Jackson, who is a second-year power forward with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Jayhawks practiced in Lawrence on Tuesday, then headed to OKC, the bus arriving right before 7 p.m. Some players slept on the bus; others watched a pair of movies.

“We watched the one with Mel Gibson. His daughter was killed, which was a great flick,” Self said of “Edge of Darkness.”

“We watched the one about the policeman in New York City with Richard Gere,” he added of “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

“I don’t know the names of ’em, but they were pretty good.”

The Jayhawks were to practice twice today, once at an undisclosed location, the other a 5:10 to 5:50 p.m. shootaround at Ford Center that is open to the public.

“Our health is pretty good. For this time of year, we’ve been pretty fortunate,” Self said. “We’ve got a couple guys nicked up, but not nicked up to the point they’ll miss practice time or games. We may cut back on a couple guys’ reps. Sherron’s knee is fine after getting it bumped, so there’s no problem there,” he added of point guard Sherron Collins, who banged knees with a Kansas State player in Saturday’s Big 12 title win over the Wildcats.

Walk down memory lane

Self was asked which of KU’s postseason games in Oklahoma City proved most memorable. KU lost to Baylor in the first round of last year’s Big 12 Tournament, defeated Oklahoma, Kansas State and Texas in the 2007 Big 12 Tournament and lost to Bucknell in the first round of the 2005 NCAAs.

“Texas stands out, even though it’s a faint memory compared to that one team in the Patriot League that we played in Oklahoma City,” Self said. “Imagine that: We’re playing a team from the Patriot League in Oklahoma City now. That was then, and this is now. There are some coincidences. How about Syracuse playing Vermont again in the first round?”

Indeed, Vermont downed the Orange in the first round of the 2005 NCAAs, the same day KU lost to Patriot League champ Bucknell.

“I’m sure they’ll be ready, and hopefully we’ll be much more ready to play this time than five years ago. It’s all by chance, coincidence,” Self added with a smile.

Late start

Self is not upset the Jayhawks are playing approximately 8:40 Thursday.

“We’ll be the last game here the first day. That’s irrelevant,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. We showed in the Big 12 tournament maybe 11:30 is not our premier start time,” he added of a morning start against Texas Tech (a 80-68 victory). “I’m not in the least bit going to be upset starting a little bit later. Plus, we’ve played how many Big Monday games this year? They started at 8 and always ran late. Starting at 8:30 is not a big deal.”

KU went 4-0 on Big Monday this year, winning at Texas and Texas A&M and stopping Oklahoma and Missouri in Allen Fieldhouse.

President likes KU, KSU

President Obama has predicted a Final Four of KU, Kansas State, Villanova and Kentucky, ESPN.com reported Tuesday. ESPN will reveal Obama’s full bracket picks and national-champion pick today on ESPN.com.

Rested

Self is thankful the Big 12 held its title game on Saturday this season. For years, the title game was played on a Sunday.

“What a bright move the league made, especially for teams that play Thursday (in NCAAs),” Self said. “If we would have played Sunday instead of Saturday and had to take Monday off and today would have been our first prep day and we only practiced an hour and 15 minutes, I’d be very very concerned with our lack of preparation. But we were able to get a lot of stuff done. It was a bright move by our league.”