No surgery for Jayhawks’ Collins

By Gary Bedore     Mar 28, 2007

Oklahoma commit Blake Griffin dunks at the McDonald's All-America dunk competition. Griffin scored a perfect 50 on the dunk en route to winning the competition Monday in Louisville, Ky.

Kansas University freshman point guard Sherron Collins will not need surgery on his left knee.

An MRI taken on Monday revealed Collins has a severe case of patellar tendinitis, which will require rest, not surgery, coach Bill Self indicated.

“It is extremely inflamed, but should calm down through rehab and rest,” Self said Tuesday. “The swelling and tendinitis created some problems for him down there, but if we get it under control, he should be fine. He does have a very, very bad case of it. He’ll have to take some time off.”

Self said he didn’t know the exact amount of time off but indicated Collins would be fine for next season.

¢Meetings here and there: Self, who today heads for Atlanta and a batch of meetings (NCAA Ethics Committee, NABC Board, USA Basketball Selection Committee) during Final Four week, on Tuesday met with each of his players individually and also gathered everybody for a team meeting three days after the squad’s season-ending loss to UCLA.

“We just went over what we want them to do in the short term,” said Self, who has given the Jayhawks the week off. Weightlifting will begin next week.

He addressed the NBA issue during his one-on-one sessions with the Jayhawk underclassmen (Brandon Rush, Julian Wright, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur and Collins) who are expected to someday play in the league.

“Everybody feels the same way as they told you after the (UCLA) game,” Self said. At that time, Rush indicated he’d explore the possibility of entering the NBA Draft. The rest of the players are heavy favorites to return.

“There’s no definitive decision by anybody. Brandon (Rush) will investigate (his NBA stock). We’ve not had time to do that for him yet. The other guys … I told them, ‘You don’t have to give us a definite answer today. Enjoy being a student right now. Have fun.’

“It’d be unfair for me to walk in today and say, ‘Give me an answer,'” Self said. “They need to be told a few more things. The best way to handle it is to be upfront and honest as they all have been. I said, ‘We’ll talk again after we get back.’ But again, I will say everybody is talking like they did to you after the game.”

¢McDonald’s game tonight: KU signee Cole Aldrich, a 6-11, 250-pound center from Jefferson High in Bloomington, Minn., tonight will compete for the West team in the McDonald’s All America game.

Tip is 7 p.m. with a live telecast on ESPN (channels 33, 233).

Rodger Bohn of draftexpress.com gave Aldrich rave reviews for his work during Tuesday’s all-star scrimmages.

“Aldrich continued his hot streak on Day Two, as nearly everything he put up somehow managed to find its way through the net. He hit two three pointers, leaving Kevin Love (future UCLA center) openly shaking his head in disbelief,” Bohn wrote.

“The Minnesota prep star ran the floor well and finished well inside, playing with a passion that was non-existent for so many stretches of time on the AAU circuit. It will be interesting to see if Cole is able to keep it up and continue to live up to the outstanding potential that he has.”

Bohn said Aldrich “was one of the bigger surprises on Day One, seemingly converting at least 80 percent of the shots that he put up from the field. He boasts a soft touch inside, while also knocking down multiple 15-18 foot jump shots on the day.”

It should be interesting to see how Aldrich fares in tonight’s game, considering big men rarely get offensive touches except on offensive rebounds.

The East team: Nick Calathes, 6-6, Florida; Johnny Flynn, 6-0, Syracuse; Austin Freeman, 6-5, Georgetown; Donte Green, 6-9, Syracuse; J.J. Hickson, 6-10, North Carolina State; Kosta Koufos, 7-1, Ohio State; Gani Lawal, 6-9, Georgia Tech; O.J. Mayo, 6-5, USC; Patrick Patterson, 6-8, undecided; Nolan Smith, 6-3, Duke; Corey Stokes, 6-6, Villanova; Chris Wright, 6-1, Georgetown;

West team: Cole Aldrich, 6-11, Kansas; James Anderson, 6-7, Oklahoma State; Jerryd Bayless, 6-4, Arizona; Michael Beasley, 6-9, Kansas State; Eric Gordon, 6-4, Indiana; Blake Griffin, 6-9, Oklahoma; James Harden, 6-5, Arizona State; Taylor King, 6-8, Duke; Kevin Love, 6-9, UCLA; Jai Lucas, 5-10, undecided; Derrick Rose, 6-4, Memphis; Kyle Singler, 6-9, Duke.

Future Sooner Griffin won the slam dunk contest. Wright won the three-point contest.

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