ESPN Men's Basketball

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas coach Bill Self was just as surprised as everyone else when star forward Wayne Simien said he had decided to stay for his senior year.

"Wayne said that he was going to stay at KU when I wasn't around," the Jayhawks' first-year coach said Thursday. "I spoke with his parents briefly and I have spoken with Wayne. It's something that we should address when the time is right to address it. That time is not now."

Simien, a 6-foot-9 native of nearby Leavenworth, is the Big 12's second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder.

After he scored 22 points Wednesday night in (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) Kansas' 78-67 victory over Nebraska, reporters asked if he had just played his final game in Allen Fieldhouse.

His response: "No way."

If Simien does remain, the Jayhawks (19-7, 11-4 Big 12) will go into the next season amid great expectations.

Two other three-year starters, swingman Keith Langford and point guard Aaron Miles, will also return. Two promising freshmen who have been starting most of the year, 6-foot-11 David Padgett and shooting guard J.R. Giddens, will be back with a year's experience.

Simien, when he's healthy, has proven he can be a dominant college player. He has averaged almost 20 points his last 11 games, including a 22-point, 17-rebound day against Texas Tech. He has scored in double figures in 13 straight games.

"You can pencil him in for 20 points and 10 rebounds, for the most part," Self said. "Those are All-American-type numbers. If our team had four losses instead of seven, he would be considered on all of the All-American teams. He still might anyway. I think he likes how we are playing, and we are doing a much better job of getting him the ball."

How high Simien would go in this year's NBA draft is a matter of debate. He would certainly not be anything close to No. 3 overall, the spot where Kansas' Drew Gooden was taken when he came out as a junior. With eight to 10 high school stars expected to enter the draft, along with several experienced international players, Simien might not even get guaranteed first-round money.

Simien may be taking a lesson from Kirk Hinrich, who stuck around for his senior year at Kansas and was taken as a lottery pick along with teammate Nick Collison. Collison has been injured, but Hinrich is one of the NBA's top rookies this year.

"We can all learn from the process," Self said. "It was good for Drew to leave. It was hard to improve on where he was picked. If Kirk and Nick would have come out as juniors, you don't know what they would have been -- late first (round), early second. They played themselves into an unbelievable position. I think Wayne is more in the Hinrich and Collison deal.

"A lot depends on things we are not even sure about. I also think that he can really help himself."

The Jayhawks will close out their regular season on Sunday in what should be as hostile an environment as they'll ever confront. They'll be facing archrival Missouri on the day the Tigers close out the Hearnes Center.

"I would imagine that the closing down of the building would be a big advantage, at least in their eyes," Self said. "Hopefully, that will play into something that will be too emotional."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press