“I would say (it’s) wilder than most,” said Self after addressing 800 campers in Allen Fieldhouse.

Since UCLA ended KU’s season with a 68-55 NCAA Tournament victory, Julian Wright declared for the NBA Draft and Brandon Rush tested the waters before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and returning to school.

On Sunday, though, Rush demonstrated his rehabilitation was off to a good start. Rush walked around with an immobilizing brace on his right leg but without the use of crutches, which he abandoned six days after surgery.

“It’s a pretty good sign,” Rush said. “I feel pretty good.”

Rachel Seymour

The junior repeated his initial estimate of returning to action in four-to-six months. During his surgical operation, the orthopedic surgeon replaced his ACL with a hamstring tendon instead of the patellar tendon often used as the graft. Rush said the hamstring reconstruction minimizes his chances of suffering from tendinitis.

“When I start getting older,” he said, “I won’t start having pain.”

Rush’s immediate goal focuses on strengthening his enervated quadriceps and regaining his range of motion. He performs leg raises and electric stimulation as part of his twice-a-day rehabilitation, which takes a total of three hours before repeating some of the same exercises at home.

Rush smiled and appeared in good spirits Sunday. However, passing the time as his teammates shoot or work out has become an issue.

“I’m so bored,” Rush said. “I don’t do too much. I go back to my room, ice and then come back over for another rehab session, and then I go back to my room. That’s all I do.”

He said he occupies some of the down time by playing College Hoops 2K7. Ironically, the player known for his unselfish ways describes himself as a “ballhog” during his video games.

Too much free time is not a problem for Self, who said he will not take a vacation this summer. He runs his camp during June before focusing on recruiting in July.

“Our summer is basically over,” Self said. “We may get three or four days here or there, but for the most part it is a 12-month-a-year job.”

Another important date for KU basketball will occur on June 28, the date of the NBA Draft. Self has not spoken to Wright, a likely top-10 selection, for a couple of weeks but has talked to his agent and several NBA teams.

“I heard everything’s going very well for him,” Self said. “This is a busy time for him and a little bit of a stressful time for him because you never know, but I think he’s handling everything very well.”

Although Wright represents a significant loss, Self received a first-hand look at his reinforcements, including marquee freshmen Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed, during his two day elite camp Friday and Saturday. He described their conditioning as average but superior to the typical freshman.

Self also praised the natural size of the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Aldrich and the court savvy of Reed, a coach’s son who played for his father, Stacy, at Burlington High.

“I was pretty pleased,” Self said. “We’ve got a lot of really good guys coming in and a lot of really good returning players. It should be a really, really fun year.”