Coach Bill Self can do it all.

Almost.

He has a combined record of 202-43 in seven seasons with U. Kansas. He finishes at the top of the Big 12 almost every year. He even has a championship.

And after freshman guard Xavier Henry declared for the draft, it was Self’s first one and done player, which is why he thinks it may scare away some recruits.

“Self’s never had a one-and-done guy,” Self said, imitating his critics. “Why would you want to go there? Or, they’ll hold you back there.”

Self said he doesn’t care about whether his recruit is a one-and-done player or not. He has had NBA-caliber players over the years, but in recent memory only one — Darrell Arthur in 2008 — left before his junior year.

But this season, Self signed Henry knowing he would probably be gone if he had a good season this year. He spent months trying to get Henry to come to Kansas, if only for this season.

And Self wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over.

“I’d put four years in again to recruit Xavier if we could get him for one,” Self said.

But the talk about Self having an NBA-ready freshman just to sit on the bench and develop, he said, is ridiculous. All that matters is who can help him win games, and Henry was a perfect example.

Even Henry found it beneficial to spend a year in college, and not just for developing his basketball skill-set.

“I’m more prepared now than I really would have been in high school from a work ethic standpoint and from a mind-set standpoint,” Henry said.

Knowing he had players on the team who were potential high-pick selections in the NBA draft, Self said he set his players up to succeed, without changing his game plan.

Henry wasn’t asked to do much this season and it worked for him. Senior guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich were the mainstays of the Jayhawks, but Henry had his opportunities.

No matter what the age, Self said, a player can go whenever he is ready.

“If he’s a junior, you say go,” he said. “So why wouldn’t you say go as a freshmen?”

But Self has mixed feelings about the one-and-done rule. He said Wednesday that the rule helps a college get a great ambassador for their program and gets the player an education.

On the other hand, and only in a few isolated instances, a player could technically stay in school with six credit hours under his belt. Henry chose to take 36.

“I think it’s a bad rule, but not in his case,” Self said. “It’s a bad rule because you could make a mockery out of it if you chose to.”