That’s not all.

“Sometimes he’ll tickle me hard. It hurts a lot,” 12-year-old Michael Collison said, asked to pinpoint the “meanest” thing his big brother has ever done to him.

“He is really nice. He’s fun to be around,” the sixth-grader said. “He teaches me about basketball and gets me cool birthday presents — things like that.”

Mike Collison figures to break out in goosebumps today — not from his brother’s tickling, but from watching Nick and fellow senior Kirk Hinrich take part in Senior Day ceremonies at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tipoff for the Kansas University-Oklahoma State game — the final home game of the pair’s college careers — is at noon with a live telecast on channels 9 and 49.

“I don’t care what happens in the game. That crowd better never sit down,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “Coaching those two kids … I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world the past four years.”

The 6-foot-9 Collison, the fourth-leading scorer in KU history, and the 6-3 Hinrich, 10th on KU’s all-time scoring list, have won 104 games and lost 27 in Jayhawk jerseys the past four seasons.

They are 52-3 at home and 50-11 in Big 12 Conference play with one Big 12 crown and one Final Four appearance.

“My biggest thrill would probably be last year, beating Missouri at Missouri to go 16-0 in the league,” Hinrich said. “Also the excitement of the (NCAA) Tournament, going deep like we did.”

“There have been so many big games against good teams,” Collison said. “It’s crazy four years could go by so fast.”

Collison and Hinrich will speak to KU fans following a matchup between the No. 7 Jayhawks (21-6 overall, 11-2 Big 12) and No. 16 Cowboys (20-6, 9-4).

“I won’t know how emotional I’ll be until it happens,” Hinrich said. “I’ve never had roses thrown at me before. That might affect my emotions a bit. I can’t see myself breaking down and crying in front of all those people. If it happens I’ll be surprised.”

Ditto Collison.

“I haven’t thought of anything to say yet,” he said. “There are just so many different emotions. You are pumped for the game, but you’re almost sad because it’s your last one. You are thinking about the four years but you feel fired up at the same time. Hopefully I’ll be able to concentrate and play well.”

Any emotional displays will likely involve the seniors’ parents. Dave and Judy Collison, who hail from Iowa Falls, Iowa, and Jim and Nancy Hinrich of Sioux City, Iowa, will attend as they do most KU games, home and road.

“If I wasn’t coaching we wouldn’t have missed any games,” said Jim Hinrich, coach of Sioux City West High. “We’ve had two different cars since Kirk’s been at KU. We bought a new one when Kirk came here and have 90,000 miles on it now.”

The Collisons also have owned two cars since Nick arrived on Mount Oread.

“We killed our Dodge van. Now we are up to 123,000 miles on the one we’re driving now — a 2000 Chevy Venture van,” said Dave Collison, athletic director and former basketball coach at Iowa Falls High. “I’d be happy to have any Chevy dealers in the area provide us with a new one. It’s really worked well,” he said.

Even the five-hour drive to Lawrence couldn’t deter Collison’s parents.

“I will miss driving here,” Dave said. “We love coming here for the games. I’m still going to try to come to as often as they will let me and maybe with Michael.”

Michael Collison, who sits in the back of the van “sleeping, playing games or doing homework” on the long drives to KU games is hoping he’ll “grow one inch taller than Nick” and someday play college ball at KU or North Carolina — but “probably KU.”

“It’s huge for me to have them come to every single home game and every road game,” Nick Collison said. “They’ve driven to New York and North Carolina. They’ve been everywhere. It’s obvious how much they care about me, to sacrifice that amount of time and money.”

“It was a big factor in me coming here, my parents getting to see me play,” Hinrich said. “To have them see me so many times … it’s been great.”

Today’s the last hurrah.

“I just think it’s another ballgame,” Jim Hinrich said. “Hopefully they’ll play well. It is a nice deal the way Kansas fans honor the kids and treat them. It’s really a neat deal. It’ll be missed.”

As to who will miss KU more, Collison or his baby brother … Nick broke into a big grin.

“I’ll still miss it more than him, but he’s had a lot of fun, too.”