They wore black suits and ties, and rolled up to Allen Fieldhouse a couple hours before midnight in the back seats of Corvettes, Benzes, Hummers and BMWs.

Escorts opened the doors, and the KU players stepped out of their rides onto a red carpet where Survivor winner Danni Boatwright interviewed them in front of 15,000 fans.

That was Late Night in the Phog earlier this season. Only a courtside sighting of Jack Nicholson could’ve made it more Hollywood. With their suits, sunglasses, and red carpet, the KU players were make-believe stars that October night. Nearly six months later, those players will have to face basketball players whose star power blings as bright as the kind they pretended to have so long ago.

Memphis, UCLA and North Carolina, the other three teams in the Final Four, boast five first, second or third team All-Americans among them. Kansas doesn’t have any.

“We never anticipated having a first team All-American because of how everyone was scoring,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We talked about that. That’s not a big deal, but those guys who received that honor are certainly worthy because they are very good players.”

Yes, they are. North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough stands out among all the stars. He’s already been named National Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated, averaged 23 points and 10.4 boards a game and earned the nickname “Psycho T” for his intensity.

Hansbrough was joined on the All-American first team by UCLA’s Kevin Love and Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts. Love and Douglas-Roberts each have their point guard on the All-American third team: Darren Collison for the Bruins and Derrick Rose for the Tigers.

Rose, a freshman, got third team billing, but many think he’s the reason Memphis was able to jump from the Elite Eight status for the past two seasons to the Final Four. His coach, John Calipari, remembered how in an earlier game against USC this season, Rose willed the Tigers to win.

“He just stepped out of it,” Calipari said in a teleconference, “and said ‘I’m going to get a block, I’m going to get a steal, I’m going to go get a rebound above the rim and I’m going to get an assist and we’re going to win.’ That’s what he did, and we won. Some guys think ‘well I’m going to step it up and I’m gonna score now,’ but you know that’s not how he plays.”

Rose will probably be the No. 2 pick in this year’s NBA Draft if he declares. Love and Collison are supposed to join him in the lottery if they enter, and Hansbrough and Douglas-Roberts should go in the first round if they skip their senior season. In addition to Collison and Love, UCLA’s Russell Westbrook could be among the top 10 picks.

Despite all that star power, Russell Robinson doesn’t see the Jayhawks as the least favored of the four teams.

“I don’t feel like we’re the underdog,” he said. “Part of it has come from us being unselfish and sharing the spotlight and everybody contributing.”

That’s how Kansas defended its seemingly small amount of fame - balanced scoring. Everyone knows the stats by now. Seven players have led the team in scoring for at least one game this year, and five players average nine points or more.

The Jayhawks have used that balance all season to win 35 games and make it to the Final Four. Sasha Kaun provided a perfect example of how balance can help a team in KU’s victory against Davidson on Sunday. With the starters struggling and playing tight, Kaun came off the bench to score 13 points and grab six rebounds.

“We had Sasha that game and had different guys step up other times,” Robinson said, “and that’s been most of our success.”

Robinson and the rest of the team are confident they can use the same recipe and do well this weekend. Just because the names of some of the players are better known and their averages are higher, Kansas won’t go into the Final Four feeling overmatched.

“We’ve got good players,” Self said. “and they’ve got good players … The strength of our team is balance, and if you’re going to make a negative of it, the weakness of our team is balance.”

— Edited by Sam Lamb