When Russell Robinson first stepped on the court for Kansas, he was a novelty, the first of his kind.

Robinson was an East Coast kid. Nobody since Terry Brown back in the 80s had hailed from New York City.

Roy Williams didn’t believe in the East Coast. He always said before they got to Kansas they had to fly over Duke and North Carolina and Kentucky and whole bunch of other power programs. Williams said he didn’t want to waste his time.

Now, Bill Self’s team has a distinct East Coast flavor and that’s part of the reason this reloading project has gone smoother than expected. Guys like Tyshawn Taylor of Jersey City, N.J., Quintrell Thomas of Elizabeth, N.J., and the Morris Twins of Philadelphia, have already been through their fair share of battles.

Basketball is different in the Northeast cities. Robinson would play at least three or four games every Saturday and Sunday in his spare time. It was real competition. Sometimes the other kids would want to fight Robinson afterwards.

Self knew his freshmen class would have played those same games and developed that same grit. Last year, after signing the Twins, Mario Little of Chicago, commented on how much toughness they’d bring because of where they grew up.

This class shows how much Kansas has changed under Self. Williams would always recruit a banner crop of Californians and Texans. Guys like Scott Pollard, who painted his nails. Guys like Eric Chenowith, who spent his summers going to Dave Matthews Band concerts.

I can’t quite imagine Taylor doing that.

Obscure Starters

Yes, it was rather odd hearing Erik Danielson shout over the P.A., “A senior from Overland Park, Kan., Matt Kleinmann!” on Saturday.

Kansas coach Bill Self said he started him because other players needed to learn how to practice harder. Kleinmann turned the ball over and allowed his man to score within the first minute. It wasn’t exactly memorable.

But his game could have historical significance, kind of. If Kleinmann doesn’t start another game the rest of this year except for Senior Day, he’ll create a distinguished triumvirate of him, Alex Galindo and Luke Axtell. They’ll become the only Jayhawks of the last 10 years to finish their career with only one start that doesn’t include Senior Day.

Some other recent players who have started games other than Senior Day that you might not expect? Jeff Hawkins — 11 games. Lester Earl — nine games. Ashante Johnson — two games. Bryant Nash — three games.

One List

Five gifts the sporting world needs to receive this holiday season.

1. A holster for Plaxico Burress (or at least a pair of pants that don’t have an elastic waist band)

2. A championship for Tony Gonzalez

3. Some confidence for Clark Hunt so he finally fires Carl Peterson

4. New talent in American men’s tennis, so an American will finally win another Grand Slam.

5. A change of luck for Brian Bannister, so he becomes a dominant pitcher for the Royals next summer.

— — Edited by Ramsey Cox