Kansas University basketball players Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich and Wayne Simien were in Allen Fieldhouse late Sunday night.

They were not practicing, but watching as 55 hustling hopefuls attended the first night of KU walk-on tryouts.

KU assistant coach Ben Miller and administrative aides C.B. McGrath and Jerod Haase jotted notes as the KU students tried to impress during scrimmages and conditioning drills.

“The effort was great. It was a little sloppy at times, but the effort was there,” Miller said after the first of two, two-hour tryout sessions.

“We tried to run them a little at the end to see what shape they were in. We tried to give them a little taste of Kansas basketball. We tried to do our best to evaluate their skills, and they’ll all be back tomorrow.”

KU coach Roy Williams has said he wouldn’t mind adding a player or two to the current roster, thus the 55 prospective players showed, including former Lawrence High standouts Mark Frederick (6-foot-5 forward) and D.J. Watkins (6-2 guard).

A look at KU’s current roster indicates walk-ons with size might stand the best chance.

“We saw some familiar faces, some new ones, too,” Miller said. “It was good to see them give up the ball and play unselfishly. Every year we feel there’s a chance somebody will make it through tryouts and this year is no exception.”

Cuts will be made after tonight’s tryout session with a more “workable” number being invited back Wednesday.

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Boone’s visit: Josh Boone, a 6-8 forward from West Nottingham Academy in Sikesville, Md., concluded his official campus visit to KU on Sunday.

“I really liked all the people I met on my visit,” Boone told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com. “I spent time with the entire coaching staff, all the current players, and the recruits. Kansas is pretty high on my list and I enjoyed everything I saw.”

Boone’s mother also made the trip and attended both Late Night With Roy Williams and practice on Saturday.

“It was very nice. We had a very good time,” Boone’s mom told the Journal-World Sunday.

Boone will visit Connecticut, Georgetown and Virginia.

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Verwers to CSU: Stephen Verwers, a 6-10 center from Weatherford, Texas, on Sunday committed to Colorado State on analyst Greg Swaim’s national radio show. As a result, his planned trip to Kansas has been canceled. He also had been recruited by TCU, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and others.

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Jackson, mom impressed: Darnell Jackson, a 6-8 junior power forward from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen High, visited Late Night with his mom, Shawn.

“I had so much fun. It was a wonderful visit,” Darnell’s mom told the Journal-World. “I’ve been talking to J.R. Giddens’ mother all day about how much fun we had.”

Giddens, a 6-5 senior from Oklahoma City John Marshall, committed to KU last spring.

Jackson, who is being hotly pursued by Oklahoma, Purdue and Illinois, was here on an unofficial visit as a junior.

“We couldn’t do much (according to NCAA unofficial visit rules), but coach (Joe) Holladay and (Ben) Miller showed me around. I went in the coach’s offices and stuff,” Jackson’s mom said.

As far as a possible commitment, she said: “I am not pushing him to commit early. I want him to weigh all options. We have an agreement. He brings me a passing ACT (score) and he can commit.”

She said Kansas had not yet offered a scholarship. He will visit Oklahoma for the Sooners’ “Baseline Bash” next weekend.