Late Night With Roy Williams 2002 was a major event, a happening.

It was … “like a volcanic eruption, basically,” future Kansas basketball player J.R. Giddens gushed.

The Oklahoma City John Marshall High School senior, who orally committed to KU last spring, was one of 16,300 fans on hand, who rocked Allen Fieldhouse during Friday night’s season-opening lip-synching/dancing/acting/ hoops fest.

“I’m amazed by everything. No part of Late Night is dull,” noted Giddens, who was joined in the stands by future Jayhawks David Padgett (6-11 Reno, Nev.) and Jeremy Case (6-0, McAlester, Okla.), plus recruit Josh Boone, 6-9 of Mt. Airy, Md.

The prospects in the stands  the fieldhouse was filled to the rafters  and the regular fans had lots of fun.

So did KU’s players and coaches.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had in my four years,” said senior Nick Collison, who scored seven points in the Blue Team’s 40-26 victory over the Red Squad in a 20-minute scrimmage that followed two hours of merriment.

“I liked everything about it,” KU coach Williams said. “The sound system was better this year. We could hear everything on the lower level. We’ll have to see how the people heard it on the upper levels. It was a lot of fun watching those kids.”

Highlights of Late Night 2002 included the acting ability of red-shirt freshman guard Jeff Hawkins, who “played” ESPN’s Dick Vitale as host of an “American Idol” skit.

Judges for Idol included junior forward Jeff Graves, who did a humorous impersonation of ESPN’s Stuart Scott and his line of “Schnizzle my nizzle! Booyah!” Plus, Collison, who played Indiana coach Bob Knight and women’s team member, Leila Menguc, who played ESPN announcer/Idol judge Linda Cohn.

The Jayhawks made fun of their Kansas State and Missouri rivals during the Idol competition, freshmen Moulaye Niang, Stephen Vinson and Christian Moody wearing K-State garb while dancing to “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”

Meanwhile, MU coach Quin Snyder and his sliced down hair style was parodied by senior Kirk Hinrich, as he and other Jayhawks danced to the song, “I’m too sexy.”

Collison, KU’s senior forward from Iowa Falls, Iowa, played an MTV reporter with a “news update” that again jokingly teased MU coach Snyder.

“Ricky Martin has called off his concert this weekend in Columbia, Mo.,” Collison reported, “due to the fact he was unable to find any hair gel in the entire city. Local sources believe there is a stockpile at the Hearnes Center.

“News on the Britney Spears front,” Collison added, “is she has given up dating for now and hopes that legendary coach Roy Williams will give her a shot. News flash Ms. Spears: ‘You better get in line,”’ Collison added.

“I was pretty nervous,” Collison said after the performance. “I just wanted to make sure my voice didn’t crack.”

Virtually everybody was in on the dancing as sophs Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and Wayne Simien (Miles actually dressed like Britney Spears in a dance) boogied in a sophomore dance, while Collison and Hinrich delighted the crowd with a Senior dance .

The sophs also read a David Letterman top 10 list.

“The top 10 reasons the Jayhawks will end up in New Orleans while the other Big 12 schools sit at home.”

The three took turns reading: 10.) Bears and Aggies … yeah right. 9.) Cowboys like saloons, not bars. 8.) People don’t husk corn in New Orleans. 7.) City ordinance states that Longhorns and Buffaloes aren’t allowed inside city limits. 6.) Who wants to deal with a Cyclone during Mardi Gras? 5.) City signs forbid teams with Boomer Sooner slogans from entering. 4.) Quin’s wife won’t let him go. 3.) Bob Knight’s athletic director won’t let him go. 2.) Wildcat fans have a hard enough time finding their way to Bramlage Coliseum. 1.) The Jayhawks are just that good!

And yes, of course, women’s coach Marian Washington and men’s coach Williams danced with their respective teams as they do each and every year.

A new touch was added as four video highlight screens hung high from the corners, an emotional Williams rubbing his eyes and shedding a tear as he was shown uttering the words, “the most fun I ever had a coach,” while speaking to fans after last year’s Final Four loss to Maryland.

“You know me. I am emotional,” Williams said. “It did bring back memories of last year. That really was a lot of fun.

“I think adding the video boards added a lot to Late Night.”

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Langford excels: Keith Langford scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He scared his teammates and coaches by falling on his hand in the early going. He continued to play and is fine.

“I kind of banged it a little when we were dunking. Then I got the first jumper in the lane and landed on it. I’ll learn how to fall from now on,” he joked. “That’s an art I’ll have to perfect.”

Hinrich did not play because of a hip pointer, but will practice today. Bryant Nash has been cleared to play as his broken thumb has healed. He wore a wrap on his thumb and scored three points and grabbed three rebounds.

Ex-Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann each played to help fill out the rosters.

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Boone here: Josh Boone, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mt. Airy, Md., attended Late Night as part of his official weekend campus recruiting visit. Boone is also considering UConn, Virginia and Georgetown.

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Top women recruits on hand: Three top women’s high school recruits attended.

KU and Tennessee are the finalists for Lauren Ervin, a 6-4 forward from Inglewood, Calif., who is ranked the No. 6 player in the country by Street and Smith Magazine.

Alisha Godette, a 5-9 guard from Colorado Springs, Colo., is considering KU, Colorado, Rutgers and Arizona State. She’s the No. 12-rated prospect in the country.

Courtney Simmons, a 5-9 guard from Baton Rouge, La., will choose between KU, LSU, Tulane and Middle Tennessee State. She is a first-team all-stater for state champion Southern University Lab High School.