Midway through the first half, junior guard Conner Teahan jogged to the scorer’s table, squatted and waited to enter the game.

The sequence of events may seem rather ordinary and bland but Teahan’s emergence onto the court Tuesday night carried far more weight than the simple matter of playing time.

The move, after all, signaled that Teahan wouldn’t be redshirted the season, leaving senior guard Mario Little and sophomore guard Travis Releford remaining on the sideline in street clothes.

“It looks like Travis is going to redshirt and (Little) is for sure,” Teahan said. “It’s one of those things where it was the best decision for me, and that’s what I decided to do.”

Yet moments later, after Kansas’ 103-45 victory against Pittsburg State, men’s basketball coach Bill Self said that nothing has been officially finalized.

He added, though, that Little and Releford are both certainly leaning toward taking a redshirt this year, meaning that they couldn’t play this season but they also wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility.

“I think that’s probably the percentage play with both of them even though we’re going to sleep on it a couple more nights,” Self said.

Since Kansas’ lineup is loaded with five returning starters from last season ­— and with one of the most highly-touted recruiting classes in the country arriving in Lawrence this year — competition for playing time is expected to be at a premium.

That means, of course, that not every player on Kansas’ roster can play a full slate of minutes this season. In turn, Little, Teahan and Releford decided to use Kansas’ two exhibition games as a time to determine whether or not taking a redshirt was in their best interest this year.

“It’s hard for any player to deal with redshirting and having to sit out and watch your team play,” freshman forward Thomas Robinson said. “At the end of the day, though, they know what’s best for them and coach knows what’s best for them.”

In Teahan’s case, he decided playing this year was in his best option.

While freshman forward Xavier Henry has a solid grip on a starting spot, Kansas doesn’t have an experienced backup because junior guard Brady Morningstar is suspended from the first semester of play.

With that in mind, Teahan and Self decided Tuesday morning that the best option was for him to play this season in order to provide Kansas with a security blanket.

“With the way things played out, it just ended up that I decided not to,” Teahan said. “It’s a possibility that I may redshirt next year. That’s what we talked about today.”

Self has said all along that he will play eight or nine players for most of the season,

And as Self noted after Kansas’ first exhibition game against Fort Hays State last Tuesday, senior guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich will likely see more playing time as the season progresses.

That leaves a handful of players to compete for the final spot of the rotation.

Still, Self said that no decision for Little or Releford is ultimately final.

“Even if you announce a guy is redshirting,” Self said, “next week if a guy sprains his ankle you could bring him back out of it.”

— Edited by Abby Olcese