Pittsburg State forward Trevor Gregory (24) reaches as Kansas forward Perry Ellis (34) drives up the court during the first half on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Perry Ellis, who at 6-foot-8, 225-pounds has been used as a power forward during his three years at Kansas University, may soon see a change in his job description.

“The way things are going, I think Perry is going to play a lot at the 3,” KU coach Bill Self said Monday, referring to the small forward position. “When he plays a lot of 3, it allows another big to be in the game. The way I see us moving forward is I think that could be a good lineup for us.

“To be honest, it makes us a better rebounding team,” Self added. “Perry is as quick as anybody we have. We will not lose anything defensively on the perimeter if Perry’s playing back there. It allows one more of our better players to be in the game.

“When you look at it, Perry doesn’t shoot it as well as some of our guys from a numbers standpoint. When you talk about percentages he shoots the three-ball about as well as anybody we have on the perimeter. He’s just not going to shoot as many. I think there’s some advantages to playing that way. We’ll wait and see how it plays out. I do know that we’ve got to get much better at the wing defensively. That was atrocious — would probably be a good way to put it — the other night (last Wednesday against Pittsburg State) in how our wings defended, how well they slid their feet. If that’s going to be the case, why don’t we play big, because I could certainly see that being a viable option and a good option.”

In the Ellis-at-the-3 scenario, bigs such as Landen Lucas, Hunter Mickelson, Jamari Traylor and Carlton Bragg (and Cheick Diallo if eligible) could play the 4 and 5, which are interchangeable.

“I don’t know that I’m totally in love with it (Ellis defensively at the 3) but I think it can’t be anything near as poor as what I saw the other night,” Self said. “I’m not being totally negative. It is reality. We’ve got to get better. Our two best perimeter defenders without question are Frank (Mason III) and Devonté (Graham). We’ve got to have somebody else back there that can slide their feet and become a lockdown defender for us. If we can’t get there because of whatever reason then why not play big? Then you become a better rebounding team and probably a better percentage shooting team too.

“I’m not crazy about it. I’ve said this year all along we’re going to play smaller this and that. I think our smaller is having Frank and Devonté be out there at the same time,” Self continued.

Self didn’t single out Wayne Selden, Jr., as having had a bad game on the wing against Pitt State. He also didn’t mention Selden specifically as far as being the player to possibly be replaced at the 3 by Ellis.

Self was asked if Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home game against Fort Hays State qualifies as a “big game” for Selden.

“I don’t know about big game. I just want to see how athletic we are, see if we can actually guard little guards,” Self said. “That was ridiculous. We had simple switches in which guys were going right around us shooting layups.”