Back in 2000, blue chip basketball recruit Keith Langford, of Fort Worth, Texas, showcased his skills at the NIKE All-America camp in Indianapolis.

The former North Crowley High standout returned to NIKE for an encore performance last week this time as a Kansas University sophomore and camp counselor.

“It was better as a counselor. You have a lot more free time,” he said.

Langford worked the camp with fellow Jayhawks Nick Collison, Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles. They were joined by Luke Jackson and Luke Ridnour (Oregon), David West (Xavier), Ebi Eri (Oklahoma), Ricky Paulding (Missouri), Jason Gardner (Arizona), David Harrison (Colorado) and many others.

Langford spent four days not only “talking to and motivating” current high school basketball prospects at the elite showcase, but also working on his own game.

The college counselors ran through individual drills twice a day and played pick-up basketball during the evenings.

“I got a chance to work on a lot of my individual game, my offensive moves,” Langford said. “I worked out twice a day on step-back moves, ballhandling drills, catching and shooting, reading guys, chasing guys off screens.

“My shot feels real good right now,” added the sweet-shooting lefty, who averaged 7.9 points his freshman season on 49.3 percent shooting. “I was working on catching and shooting the ball, working on being a lot more consistent, not so indecisive.”

The four Jayhawks played on the same pick-up team one evening.

“Sometimes two of us might be on a team or something,” Langford said, “but we played like three games together and won every game.

“Ebi Eri of Oklahoma looked real good. Luke Jackson played well and Antonio Gates of Kent State was good, too,” Langford assessed, noting KU’s Collison might have been the best collegiate player on hand.

“The best thing was we got to spend time with one another. We are really close,” Langford added of the Jayhawks. “I roomed with Wayne again. It was a fun time to kick back and have fun, relax.”

Future KU players Jeremy Case and J.R. Giddens also attended, and according to various reports more than held their own. Recruiting analyst Eric Bossi, who compiled a list for rivals.com, rated the 6-5 Giddens of Oklahoma City’s Marshall High the eighth-best player at NIKE, while Frank Burlison of Fox Sports tapped Giddens 12th.

Case, who’s listed as 6-1 at McAlester High but measured 5-11 in socks at NIKE, showed some long-range shooting skills, but was not ranked in the top 25.

Langford saw the two future Jayhawks in action, but isn’t allowed to comment on their skills until they sign in November.

Speaking of the high school players as a whole, Langford said: “There are always some hard-headed dudes. The players I worked with were real cool. They asked a lot of questions.”

Langford now is gearing up for an upcoming stint with the NIT All-Stars.

The NIT stars, coached by former Manhattan College coach George Bucci, will congregate in New York on Wednesday for practices gearing for games in Ontario, Canada. The NIT stars will meet Canada’s national team on July 25 and 27 and Canada’s developmental team on July 26 and 28 at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Some other games also may be on the schedule. No details have yet been released by the NIT.

“I’m excited. I’ve not done something like this before, getting a chance to travel and work on my game,” said Langford.

It’s believed his teammates include Pitt’s Brandon Knight and St. John’s Marcus Hatten.

Brotherly love: Langford’s brother, Kevin, is a 6-8 junior-to-be at North Crowley High.

“He’s in Georgia (for Peach Jam camp) and will go to the NIKE Superstar camp in Florida and AAU nationals,” Keith Langford said. “After that he’ll probably take some visits.”

Is he interested in the Jayhawks?

“Some, of course,” KU’s Langford said with a laugh.

Late Night: Late Night With Roy Williams will be held the night of Friday, Oct. 11, at Allen Fieldhouse. Look for KU’s 2002-03 schedule to be released sometime next week.

The Jayhawks still are trying to fill one home date.

As previously reported, KU will meet Holy Cross in the season and Preseason NIT opener on Nov. 19 at Allen Fieldhouse. If KU wins, the Jayhawks would meet the UNC Greensboro-Wagner winner on Nov. 22 at Allen.

Parental visit: The parents of David Padgett, a 6-11 high school senior-to-be from Reno, Nevada, are going to visit KU this summer. Pete Padgett, Dave’s dad and high school coach, told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com that he and his wife will check out the campus and Lawrence on a mid-August trip. Padgett is considering KU, Stanford, Arizona, North Carolina and perhaps Louisville and Oregon.

Wooden excels: Free State High senior-to-be Keith Wooden was rated the 16th best prospect at NIKE by Bossi. Wooden this week is at the Great America Shootout in Denton, Texas, with his KC Nets AAU team. Wooden, a 6-8 forward, is considering KU, Indiana, Arizona State and others.