photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Quentin Grimes (5) drives against Emporia State guard Grant Shell (11) during the second half of an exhibition, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.

“Hey, make sure our guys know their assignments,” Kansas coach Bill Self instructed as he walked out of the media room following KU’s 93-55 exhibition victory over Emporia State on Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

No, Self was not talking to his assistant coaches about anything that happened on the floor during the game. Nor was he talking to a team manager, video coordinator or even one of the players themselves.

Instead, Self was referencing the postgame responsibilities of the Kansas players, who, after each game, are shuffled around quickly from the media room to radio interviews on the court, back to the locker room and ultimately to the autograph line that is usually four or five deep for a good hour after the game.

Thursday’s exhibition contest might have been key for Kansas in terms of getting an on-the-court tune-up for the fast-approaching season opener against No. 10 Michigan State at the Champions Classic on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis.

But it also was the first opportunity for many of KU’s new faces to work their way through what goes on after each game. And it’s been a while since KU’s support staff has had to work so hard to make sure guys were in the right place at the right time during the postgame parade.

For players like Devonte’ Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk, Landen Lucas, Frank Mason III, Perry Ellis, and others, the events after every game often were executed as well as their performances on the floor.

That was not quite the case on Thursday night, although no major hiccups occurred.

The postgame interview session featured three Jayhawks taking part in the fun for the first time. And while freshmen Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson, along with junior Dedric Lawson, had no problem delivering at the table in front of the television cameras and crowd of reporters, none of them knew exactly where to go when the breakout session that followed arrived.

They quickly found out, of course, with Grimes navigating his way to the front corner, Dotson taking a seat in Graham’s old spot in the back of the room and Lawson sliding his chair back from the table to answer more questions against the wall.

The whole thing was so foreign to the trio of newcomers that Grimes actually took the time to put his chair back where it came from and began cleaning up after himself at the table before being whisked away by team officials while he was in the middle of picking up his half-empty water bottle.

Self has said on a couple of occasions that this freshman class included as many high-character, intelligent players as he can remember having in one class. But it’s one thing to be a good person and treat people with respect. It’s another to still be making your bed every day even after going off to college.

Outside of the KU locker room, where black Sharpies were passed out so the Jayhawks could sign all types of KU memorabilia before leaving for the night, the autograph line included three or four different entry points early on, instead of resembling the smooth-flowing scene that it has been for years.

Shaking off some rust and working through the kinks of a dress rehearsal is par for the course on any opening night. But it was especially true on this night, when eight Jayhawks both played and postgamed for the first time in their KU careers.

As figures to be the case with KU’s team, which got a monster night from Dedric Lawson and shot 40 percent from 3-point range but also turned it over 22 times against overmatched Emporia, things are likely go smoother the second time through.

Kansas will close out its exhibition schedule Thursday against Washburn at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.