Rush's ACL injury 'a blessing in disguise'

What coach wouldn't kill for that?

"I thought the first time that I ever saw him during individual workouts, he could be as good as anybody I ever coached," Self said. "Not very often do you have that size, that body."

Now, one of the worst injuries a basketball player can suffer has landed him in the Final Four. Although his numbers are down from his first two seasons, 90 percent of Rush is better than no Rush at all.

"Brandon has been showing a lot of emotion the last couple of days," teammate Darnell Jackson said on Friday. "I've never known Brandon to do that, but one day, he snapped at practice on a couple of guys. It shocked me because he's one of the guys who's always calm and collected. He wants it. He wants it more than everybody."

A blessing that knocked him from lottery pick to middle of the first round, at best, according to the experts. But Rush hasn't played in the tournament like he had one eye on the NBA. In Kansas' four NCAA games, he is second in scoring with 14.5 points per game. Since mid-March, he averaged 17.5 points including a career-high 28 against Texas A&M.

In the end, Brandon has been the good Rush. JaRon, who battled alcohol problems, unwisely declared for the draft after the 2000 season and wasn't selected. Kareem, a pure shooter, recently returned from Europe to play for the Pacers.

Both brothers were suspended by the NCAA for a time after an FBI investigation revealed they had taken money from their former AAU coach, Myron Piggie.

Sometimes, though, you just fall right even when you fall wrong. After four high schools, two flings with the NBA, countless rehab treatments and a solid career, this knee thing might be the best thing that happened to Brandon Rush.

"I think it was," he admitted, "a blessing in disguise."