VALLEY CENTER ? Nick Collison probably didn’t even hear the words that were spilling out of his mouth Wednesday afternoon.

If he had, the former Kansas University basketball standout might be downright disappointed in himself.

“There’s some things I used to hate to hear as a player — especially growing up around middle school, ninth and 10th grade — when I learned how to play hard,” said Collison, who seemed to have no problem preaching the same fundamentals that peeved him as a youth. “Now I’m definitely saying some of those things.”

Collison was visiting Valley Center, a town of 5,000 located just north of Wichita, for his first Nick Collison Basketball Camp.

“They always say you turn into your parents, and I’m kind of turning into my dad that way in coaching,” said Collison, who along with camp founder, Jeff McEntarfer, chose to have the camp away from the Lawrence area to cater to Jayhawk fans in other areas of the state.

“I had great coaches growing up, and I’m trying to share some of those same things they taught me.”

That was evident to the 50 or so campers at Valley Center High, who watched Collison school them in everything from low-post maneuvers to being loud on defense.

“You guys know that school starts in three weeks, and you guys won’t be able to talk anymore,” Collison quipped, “so you better get it out of your system this week.

“Say anything. Talk. You guys are too quiet. And defense is all about communication.”

Collison, a communications grad from KU, had little problem talking about the shoulder injuries that sidelined him from his first NBA season. But he did admit that missing the most basketball games since being held out for a handful of contests during the 11th grade because of a broken thumb was the toughest situation yet in his young basketball career.

Former Kansas University basketball standout Nick Collison, center, holds a question-and-answer session with campers during his basketball camp. Collison held camp Wednesday in Valley Center.

“It was a tough year to sit out,” said Collison, who was drafted 12th by the Seattle SuperSonics a year ago, but never played a minute because he had surgeries on both shoulders to correct and prevent the recurrence of the subluxation of his left shoulder that occurred in October. “I was really worried how I was going to handle it, but once I got the surgery done, got my sling off and started concentrating on my rehab, that kept me busy.

“There were definitely a lot more downs than ups,” Collison said. “But I tried to just realize I’m going to have an opportunity to play, so I need to be patient and just concentrate on doing the offseason work and getting ready for this season.”

Collison, KU’s No. 2 all-time career scorer, seems to be ahead of schedule, as his recent play on the Sonics’ summer team suggests.

The 6-foot-10, 265-pounder averaged 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while averaging about 20 minutes during Seattle’s six summer contests.

“Summer league was great, a lot of fun,” Collison said. “I was just a little worn down by the end because I wasn’t in shape. For not playing in a year, I was happy with it.

“Just missing that time on the court makes you appreciate how much you love playing this game.”

Or perhaps coaching it.

“It’s a lot of fun. It wasn’t that long ago that I was in these kind of camps in my hometown,” Collison said. “I learned a lot at those camps, and they were fun to be able to get with a lot of different kids and play in the summer. Now that I’m in the situation where I can do that for other kids, I think it’s definitely a good thing.

“I never thought I would be a coach, but now after working in camps it’s fun to be able to tell a kid something, to show them something and watch them pick it up by the end of the day. Maybe I’ll end up coaching some day. It’s something I definitely enjoy doing.”