Portland, Ore. ? Nick Collison arrived at Team USA training camp as one of college basketball’s best big men.

He’ll return to Kansas University with his reputation intact and then some.

“Nick Collison,” U.S. world championship team assistant coach Kelvin Sampson said Friday, “is a lot better today than he was a week and a half ago.”

As the only collegian and only practice player/alternate in camp, the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Collison tiptoed through the first practice while muscling against the likes of NBA players Elton Brand, Jermaine O’Neal and Ben Wallace.

That’s when Sampson, Oklahoma’s head coach, had a heart-to-heart talk with the second-team all-Big 12/honorable mention All-America performer.

“Failure. I told him to fail as much as you can,” Sampson said, referring to Collison not being afraid to fail and to continue to be aggressive in putting up shots. “During the first few practices, Nick looked a little tentative. He had five shots blocked. I told him, ‘That’s supposed to happen, keep shooting. Ben Wallace is NBA defensive player of the year. He’s supposed to do that. Keep putting em up.’

“Now he’s down to one or two blocks per practice as opposed to five. He’s learning how to do it.”

Collison he had two shots blocked by China’s Yao Ming in Thursday’s U.S. exhibition victory figures to play just a few minutes in tonight’s second and final exhibition versus Germany at Portland’s Rose Garden.

He’ll move on to Indianapolis for two more days of practice, then, unless he’s added to the roster, likely will conclude his stint with the squad. He agrees with Sampson that he has come a long way in nine days.

“I think so. I’m a lot more confident than I was when we first started practicing. I was very tentative at the beginning, but I feel I’m playing a lot better,” Collison said.

“Going in, I knew it was a huge jump to play against these guys, who are the cream of the crop in the NBA, compared to the college level. I was expecting that. It’s a totally different game. I guess I surprised myself with how well I can compete. I feel like I’m trying to play hard and not worry about mistakes.”

Collison hasn’t dominated by any means, but he also hasn’t looked out of place during what have proved to be extremely physical Team USA practices.

“This is a great experience for Nick. He’s not going to get any better competition than he is getting right here,” said Team USA starter and former Jayhawk Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.

“It’s a great experience for him. It’s a great experience for all of us,” added former Jayhawk forward Raef LaFrentz, also an integral part of the team.

The two former KU players have gone out of their way to help Collison.

“It’s great to be around not just Paul and Raef, but all the players as well,” Collison said. “At every point during practice guys will give me stuff I can use in terms of learning the game at the NBA level. I’ve primarily hung out the most with Raef. We have lunch together about every day.”

The NBA players have resisted the temptation of hazing young Collison.

“He’s getting a pass because Jay Williams (Chicago Bulls first-year player out of Duke) is here. Jay is actually a (NBA) rookie,” Pierce said. “We haven’t started the initiation with Nick yet. That’s next week.”

“Williams has to take the heat because he’s actually the rookie,” LaFrentz added.

“It hasn’t been too bad,” Collison reported. “I actually expected it to be worse. I had to get lunch for everybody one day. Other than that they’ve been easy on me.”

Collison, who has been taking charges and diving for loose balls, has proven likable because of his work ethic.

“In addition to being a great kid, he plays hard,” Sampson said. “He has a great attitude. That’s what I’ve always respected about Roy (Williams, KU coach) and his program. It’s the kids. You spend time around Nick Collison. He is just a great kid.”

Collison likely never will forget time spent with the NBA players. This is what he’s called his “internship.”

“When coach (Williams) asked me to be an alternate I didn’t even think about it a second. I accepted right away. It’s a great opportunity,” Collison said. “I want to make it in this league and I’ll take any chance I can get to compete against these guys on a day in and out basis. It’s a chance to do this, practice against these guys and be in some great cities.”

NOTES

Tonight’s exhibition game, to start at 9 p.m., Central, will not be televised.

OU coach Sampson was asked about Collison spending time at Nike camp with OU’s Hollis Price and Ebi Eri and at the Playboy All-America photo shoot with Price, and also time with Eri at Michael Jordan’s camp in California.

“We’re Sooner-izing Nick,” Sampson joked.

Paul Gowen is a graduate of Lawrence High and Kansas University living in Portland. The J-W’s Gary Bedore also contributed to this story.