Wayne Simien paced through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Friday afternoon with a cell phone to his ear, telling 20 media members via conference call how happy he was that his long NBA odyssey was over.

“I’m heading to my gate. I’m so excited. Kansas City, here I come,” screeched Simien, a former Kansas University basketball forward who Friday held his last individual workout for NBA teams interested in taking him in Tuesday’s draft.

“I’m going fishing — bass fishing — tomorrow morning, relaxing,” he added.

The first-team All-American, who held his first individual workout May 11 for the Sacramento Kings, endured his 16th and final session with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

Simien’s six-week journey covered 28 cities (counting stops for connecting flights) and a total of 28,357 miles.

“I’m not completely drained,” Simien said. “I’m completely fed up with airports and airplanes, that’s for sure.”

Simien’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, said his plan was to take “an aggressive approach” in his client’s visiting as many NBA suitors as possible.

“One knock on Wayne was he was a ‘tweener,'” Steinberg said, referring to the word used for a player too short to play power forward or center, but too tall to play small forward. “He took care of that early. Wayne measured 6-8 in stockings basically everywhere, which is 6-91/2 in shoes.”

More than big enough to be classified as a power forward, Simien took care of another issue by holding his own in workouts against power forwards Ike Diogu, Charlie Villanueva, Channing Frye, Sean May, Lawrence Roberts and Hakim Warrick.

“Going through 16 of these workouts, going against the best of my peers day in and day out and doing well at it, I think we accomplished everything we set out to do, showing durability,” Simien said.

Simien’s only regret is there was no time to visit other teams — Charlotte, Seattle, Utah, San Antonio, Detroit, Milwaukee and New Orleans — that wanted to take a look at him.

“There weren’t enough days in late May and June to fit everybody in,” Simien said. “Several wanted me in for a second look. They got four years of looking, so hopefully that’ll be assistance for everyone.”

Simien survived a battery of physical tests — 7 hours one day, four the next at draft camp in Chicago — and psychological exams at all stops.

“I felt like one of those wind-up dolls as many times as I had to answer the same question over and over again,” Simien said.

“It’s amazing how well these teams look into your background. In Boston they told me they hired a private investigator. They told me if there’s anything I needed to fess up to, to say it now.”

Known as a rock-solid individual, Simien didn’t have any issues to reveal. As far as where he now will be tapped in the draft … well, his agent says he could fall anywhere between Nos. 14 (Minnesota) and 21 (Phoenix).

“I have zero gut feeling at all,” Simien said. “I’m not scared, not worried where I might end up. I did everything I could and trust in God for the rest.”

¢ Miles update: Former KU point guard Aaron Miles took part in his 15th and final individual workout Thursday in Dallas.

“He’s back in Portland now. We closed up after Dallas,” said Chris Emens of Octagon, Miles’ agent. “We’ve received good feedback. I think he’s still middle to late second round. I feel confident he’ll be picked. If for some reason he is not, we may have encouraged that not to happen. The goal here is to be on a roster, not necessarily to get drafted.”

Emens said if Miles wasn’t drafted, he’d definitely hook up with an NBA summer league team mere hours or days after Tuesday’s draft.

¢ Langford update: Ex-Jayhawk guard Keith Langford will have had 11 workouts after Monday’s session in Dallas. He practiced for Seattle, the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns this past week.

“People are comparing him to Gilbert Arenas in that they believe Keith can play point guard,” said Mark McNeil of McNeil Group, Langford’s agent. “They like the fact he’s played at a high level in college and is so competitive.”

McNeil said Langford was considered a possible second-round pick. If he’s not selected, Langford also will be playing for somebody’s summer league team.

“About every team he’s visited … they’d love to have him,” McNeil said. “He’s a good ballhandler, has a great basketball IQ and is not a selfish player.”

¢ ESPY finalist: KU’s basketball team is up for one of ESPN’s ESPY Awards. The Jayhawks’ loss to Bucknell is one of four finalists in the “best upset” category. The others are Puerto Rico’s win over Team USA in the Olympics; Giacomo’s win in the Kentucky Derby and Syracuse’s loss to Vermont in the NCAAs.