“It’s like getting a cheat sheet for a test,” KU sophomore J.R. Giddens quipped Saturday of the workouts and Canada practice games, which actually are not forbidden but OK’d every four years by the NCAA.

“I think it’s going to help us because we’re already coming together as a team,” he added after scoring 11 points in Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Horejsi Center “We’re learning what each other can do and getting the freshmen to know the offense.”

KU’s first seven pre-Canada tour practices — the Jayhawks are allowed 10 — have been instructional for the newcomers and competitive for everybody.

“Practices have been real intense,” senior guard Michael Lee said after scoring 14 points in the scrimmage. “Some people have been banged up. It’s to be expected. You get off the court, ice it up, then keep going.

“You saw today (Saturday) how intense it’s been. I’m not going to get too excited and rush to judgment, but I think from what I’ve seen it’s going to be a really good team.”

Christian Moody (hip), Keith Langford (back), Darnell Jackson (ankle) and Giddens (shoulder) have been nicked at practice.

“With coach, you will always go hard. Coach carries over intensity,” Langford said after scoring 15 points with seven assists against two turnovers. “Just because you are practicing a couple of months early, it’s not like you can be less intense.

“It’s good momentum for what’s coming in October.”

Langford said it was common sense a team with national-title aspirations that can practice in August gets a boost on the season.

“Any team in America that gets 10 practices before the season started would improve,” Langford said. “I don’t know how much 10 practices will help in January and February. Even though they are good for us, we’ve still got to practice in October, November, December … every month of the season.”

KU coach Bill Self has had a blast coaching two months earlier than normal.

“Practices are better. Last year they were all freshmen. We had to teach everybody everything,” said Self, a first-year KU coach a year ago. “We didn’t have early practice time like this.

“We are much further around than we were at Late Night offensively. Defensively we’ll be much better by Late Night (Oct. 15). We’ll spend a lot of time on individual improvement between the time we get back and Oct. 15.”

What must be remembered above all else is it’s still summertime, something Wayne Simien has no trouble keeping in mind.

“Yeah, man, it was hot in there,” Simien said of Horejsi Center, site of Saturday’s scrimmage. “This time last year, even after Late Night, we were not this far along. Not at all. These 10 practices are really going to be important.”

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Miles has great visit: C.J. Miles, a 6-5 senior guard from Dallas Skyline, said he had “a great experience and outstanding weekend” on his official recruiting visit to KU, which concluded Sunday morning. Not ready to end his recruiting, however, he says he will visit Arizona on Sept. 10.

“I do know that I will take my visit to Arizona, but I don’t know if I will take any visits after that,” Miles told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com. “My official visit to Kansas will definitely be tough to beat. Everything about the visit was awesome.”

He said a highlight was KU’s scrimmage at Horejsi Center, where the “1,300 people showed up and chanted my name. That entire experience was unbelievable.”

He has a final list of KU, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Texas and North Carolina.