INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Self has a story he loves to tell. It’s a story about Sherron Collins. A story that perfectly illustrates Collins’ personality.

It was April 6, 2008 — the eve of Kansas’ national championship game against Memphis in San Antonio. Self didn’t know which of his players should guard Derrick Rose, Memphis’ point guard and eventual No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, so he asked them.

Collins, then a sophomore guard, responded first. Collins told Self he wanted to defend Rose. Collins said he could do it.

“No,” Self said. “We’re going to have to put someone a little bigger, a little stronger, a little tougher at point.”

“Watch,” Collins responded. “Just put me on him.”

That’s what Self wanted to happen all along. The question and the subsequent challenge were both a part of Self’s plan to motivate Collins.

While Collins didn’t shut down Rose — he still scored 18 points — he forced Rose into a number of tough shots and guarded him well enough for Kansas to prevail.

“I love toughness and I love guys that you can’t tell them what they can’t do,” Self said. “If you tell Sherron what he can’t do, it’s just motivation for him to do it.”

Self knows how to inspire Collins, now a junior guard, and Collins knows how to react to it.

Collins said Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium that he expected a challenge from Self before Kansas tips off against Michigan State at approximately 8:37 tonight in the Sweet Sixteen.

“I think he’ll challenge me somehow in the next day or two,” Collins said. “I’m going to respond to it well. Every time he challenges me, I take it up.”

In fact, this season started with Self challenging Collins. When the Jayhawks traveled to Ottawa, Canada, for three exhibition games in August, Self was upset because Collins arrived to practice out of shape and overweight. Self said he didn’t think Collins could be the team’s leader.

Turns out Self was dead wrong. Collins has averaged 19 points and five assists per game this season and is a second-team All American. Most importantly, he’s led this young group of Jayhawks to the Sweet Sixteen — further than most analysts expected at the beginning of the season.

“We go with him,” sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. “We follow him.”

The Jayhawks have definitely stuck with that theme through the first two games of the NCAA tournament. Collins recorded a combined 57 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and only two turnovers in the victories against Dayton and North Dakota State.

As Self put it, Collins “has made every play.” The two games have arguably been the best of Collins’ career. Not surprisingly, they’ve come following yet another challenge from Self.

When Kansas lost to Baylor 71-64 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament, Self blamed the defeat on a lack of energy. Collins took the statement personally.

Collins has told Self all season that as a leader, he’s in charge of making sure the Jayhawks play with maximum effort. It’s Collins’ job to keep the energy level high.

That didn’t happen against Baylor. Now, Collins is determined to make sure the Jayhawks never have a similar letdown again. In the two tournament games, he’s done a better job than ever in getting teammates involved.

“A lot of people criticize Sherron for not being a playmaker and just being an undersized two-guard who just scores,” freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “But Sherron is playmaker. He gets guys open shots. When he can do both, score like he scores and gets people open shots, then I think he’s the best guard in the country.”

And if Collins elects to stay in college for his senior season, one of the best guards in Kansas history. Collins already ranks 26th on the Kansas all-time scoring list with 1,310 career points.

If Collins came back next year, he’d have a good chance of eclipsing 2,000 career points and ranking in the top five on the all-time scoring list.

Collins, however, isn’t thinking about his legacy. Self is.

“I think he can go down as one of the most unbelievable success stories,” Self said.

“He’s had the deck stacked against him and now he’s on a level playing field. We’re just watching him start to grow and flourish.”

Perhaps, Self will have new Collins stories to tell after this weekend in Indianapolis. If Kansas beats Michigan State, it will play the winner of Louisville vs. Arizona Sunday for the chance to go to the Final Four.

For that to happen, the Jayhawks will count heavily on Collins. Self wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I know at the end of the day, there’s nobody I’d rather have standing next to me than him because I know he’ll fight,” Self said. “He’ll fight for whatever the cause is.”