The 2017-18 Kansas men's basketball team takes a moment to pose for a picture in front of Rome's famed Colosseum after a guided tour on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017.

Rome ? The Kansas men’s basketball players can now add walking out of the tunnel at the Roman Colosseum to the thrill of running out of the tunnel for home games at Allen Fieldhouse.

For a little more than three hours Wednesday morning — hours before tip-off for the first of four exhibition games on KU’s tour of Italy — the Jayhawks enjoyed an up-close-and-personal look at some of Rome’s most famous sites.

Devonte' Graham leads a pack of Kansas basketball players through the crowd outside Trevi Fountain during a walking tour of Rome on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017.

The day began at the Colosseum, where the Jayhawks explored the ancient arena low and high and were guided on a tour that took them down to the floor where fierce gladiators and ferocious animals once entered the venue in front of thousands all in the name of sport and entertainment.

Led by an Italian tour guide who seemingly knew every detail of the world famous amphitheater that was built between 70-80 AD, the Jayhawks learned some of the history of the Colosseum and were given an opportunity to close their eyes and imagine what it might have been like to walk onto the arena floor all those years ago, heart racing, crowd roaring.

“Visiting the Colosseum and just learning about the history and what they had to go to just to survive another day, just to be up close and personal inside, I think that was very cool,” sophomore guard Malik Newman said at the end of the tour.

From the Colosseum to the Pantheon via Trevi Fountain: That was the itinerary for the rest of Wednesday’s tour, which featured the Jayhawks strolling the streets with thousands of tourists all taking in the same sights.

A few players posed for pictures with fans from a variety of countries, and KU coach Bill Self was recognized more than a few times.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self talks Pizza and history with Devonte' Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk & Mitch Lightfoot at Trevi Fountain during a walking tour of Rome on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017.

Outside of the Trevi Fountain, KU seniors Devonté Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk stopped in to grab a couple of slices of pizza. It is customary when visiting the fountain to toss in a coin with one’s right hand over the left shoulder for good luck and the good fortune of one day returning to Rome. The money is collected throughout the day and given to charity.

According to the tour guide, nearly 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day and, in 2016 alone, roughly $1.5 million was collected from the fountain.

Many of the sites along the walking tour were easily recognizable from books and movies.

While that fact made it easy for the Jayhawks to get into the tour, the stops along the way and the magnitude of what they were witnessing made a profound impact.

Never was that more clear than when they entered the Pantheon, a former Roman temple and currently functioning church built between A.D. 118 and 128, which inspired transfer Sam Cunliffe to simply say, “Whoa,” as he entered the building and looked up at the enormous and heavily decorated dome ceiling.

Kansas big men Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot share a moment at The Pantheon in the heart of Rome during the Jayhawks' walking tour of Rome on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017.

It’s inside the Pantheon where the remains of the famous Italian artist Raphael are buried in a visible tomb on the main floor.

The tour wrapped at the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, where KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend thought it would be a good time to practice some of the Italian he had learned.

“Billy, andiamo,” Townsend said to KU freshman Billy Preston, drawing smiles and laughter from those who heard it.

Self, who stood nearby, even got in on the act, first asking Townsend what it meant — “let’s go” — and then by practicing it in a decent Italian accent himself.

“We don’t know really anyone over here and it’s really just us,” Newman said when asked how the trip had been in the bonding department thus far. “So if I want to go somewhere, there’s probably three or four teammates coming with me. It just makes everything better.”

As for what they learned on the tours and during the first two days of their trip to Italy, Newman admitted that hearing about the history of all of the sites they’ve visited has humbled him and his teammates a bit.

“Just seeing movies and things like that, we think we know more than what’s really going on,” Newman said with a guilty smile. “But we really don’t know that much. But I think all the guys are enjoying it.”