Drew Gooden is a contradiction.

Black father. White mother.

Half-Finnish, half-American.

Toast of Lawrence. Child of the world.

Outgoing and moody, especially when asked about his personal hot button issues.

Drew Gooden wants to leave Kansas as No. 1 before he heads to the NBA, likely after this season. (AP)

The NBA, where he is expected to be playing next season? Getting tired of talking about it. But at times the junior will drop loaded hints that this is his "final" year in college.

The 6-foot-10 Kansas forward can be engaging and entertaining. He can also refuse to come to the interview room like he did Sunday after his team's loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament title game.

"I don't like talking to you guys after losses," Kansas coach Roy Williams said, almost admonishing Gooden from the podium. "But if I'm not going to do that, I shouldn't come in here all smiley faced when we win. He'll talk in the locker room."

And Gooden did, regaling reporters with his wit and punishing another opponent with his game. They say Gooden might be the best player in the country. No matter when the voting deadline is, this month will prove it.

Kansas takes its cue from Gooden. If he is on, which he is most nights, then Kansas will win. If he isn't, then there are questions -- mostly from him -- about himself. But usually he is the conscience of the hardest-working team in show business.

"I'm having a lot of fun being on a team that is winning," he said during the Big 12 tourney. "We don't have any knuckleheads. Well, we have a couple. We don't have too many.

"Do we look like a physical team out there?" Gooden said, bringing up the Jayhawks' March stereotype, that they're not tough enough when it counts. "I think we need to be more physical if you ask me.

"Illinois did push us around," he said, referring to last year's Sweet 16 loss in San Antonio. "You can beat teams that push you around. You can outsmart teams that push you around."

And so this March, Gooden wants to go down thinking and swinging.

Kansas opens its latest pursuit of a national championship Thursday in St. Louis against Holy Cross. Gooden is a big reason why some suggest this is Williams' best team. He was Big 12 player of the year while leading in the league in both scoring and rebounding.

Thirty-five straight games in double figures. Twenty-one double-doubles this season. Last year he made purists gasp when he said he could be better than Michael Jordan. Then Gooden worked Jordan's camp last summer.

It's not bragging if you can back it up. Gooden has plenty of time. He's only 20.

"We're still young men so we're still going to get stronger," Gooden said of the season's grind. "We're not going downhill."

But in the NBA, even average teams lose 40 times a season. He won't be able to hide out in the locker room. In a way he is spoiled. In Gooden's career he has suffered 20 losses. Who can blame him if he is not a good loser?

"We're not going to fake and jump around like we're jumping for joy," Gooden said Sunday. "We lost the Big 12 Tournament to Oklahoma. Put those two together and it's not a movie set."

To understand Gooden, you have to understand his bloodlines. His father Andrew met his mother Ulla Lear, a Finn, while playing basketball in Europe. They married in 1979. Drew was born in 1981. And although the couple is divorced, Drew is still close to both.

Another contradiction. Out of a broken marriage a solid, loving relationship.

"If you know anything about the Finnish people they were Vikings," Andrew told the Contra Costa Times. "They're conquerors. They were barbaric. When it came to battle, they'd fight until the end. Plus, they're very tall, like giant-type people.

"If you mix African blood with Viking blood, you have a black Viking so the rest of the world better watch out."

From that bond has come an accomplished young adult who plays piano, golf and took judo lessons as a child from his grandfather for his fourth-degree black belt.

That was Andrew running through the stands in November wearing his son's No. 0 jersey rooting on the Jayhawks in the Maui Invitational. That's Drew emoting, throwing his arms in the air after big plays.

No wonder he wears that zero. "It's unpredictable," Gooden said.

But Gooden has his quiet times. He went back to Finland last summer to visit his mother and -- can this be right? -- fish for pike.

He also wanted to practice immediately after Sunday's crushing loss to Oklahoma.

"I would (like to practice)," Gooden said after scoring 22 points and getting 15 rebounds in the 64-55 loss. "Not like a hard practice. Just watch the tape of this game. Something to get better. Every practice after a loss takes a bad taste out of my mouth.

"We can't come out like we did in the first half against Oklahoma. It's too crucial."

Back in the summer of 1998, Gooden was not a big-time prospect at El Cerrito (Calif.) High School. His parents were upset when, at age 15, he got his first tattoo.

"They didn't know until I got it," Gooden said. "I don't even want to get into that. I'll have flashbacks. Once I got one it was like, 'Oh, you done messed up your body.' It was foolish but everyone makes mistakes."

Then he had one of those offseasons that make coaches come out of the woodwork. Michigan, UCLA, Kentucky, Southern Cal, UCLA, Connecticut, even Holy Cross was after him after a summer of AAU and camp play.

During a two-day recruiting trip to Lawrence, Gooden fell in love with the place. Kansas is still a place where college basketball is unspoiled and players are still kids. Fans walk through campus speaking of "Drew", "Jeff", "Nick" and "Kirk" without having to use last names.

On game nights, they become minor gods. That's why on senior night last month against Kansas State, there was consternation. Jeff Boschee and Jeff Carey, the only seniors, were honored but not Gooden. He and they knew his 16-point, nine-rebound game against the Wildcats might have marked his last appearance at Allen Fieldhouse.

A second-round game against Stanford would be like a playground reunion. Growing up in Richland, Calif., Gooden played with several current Cardinal players.

His body is now a tribute to the body arts. One tattoo sticks out: "Bay Area's Finest."

It's obvious that before he's through, Gooden wants to leave a final mark.