“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell is recognized for his no-holds-barred way of dealing with contestants, but freshman Mike Whaley knows more about him than most who have only seen the acerbic judge praise or crush a would-be talent in front of a television audience of millions.

Whaley was part of “Hollywood Squares'” College Night in January. Cowell was the show’s center square.

“He is actually pretty nice,” Whaley said. “He encouraged me to try out for ‘American Idol.”

Whaley represented SMU on “Hollywood Squares'” college week last month. But he isn’t the only person associated with a game show to get his 15 minutes of fame. Several individuals associated with SMU have appeared on game shows.

Michelle Espino, coordinator for Student Programs, was a guest twice on “The Weakest Link.” Another student appeared on “Wheel of Fortune” more than a decade ago.

Whaley’s experience started last October when he auditioned for the show. He took a test and played a simulation game. Whaley said that he thought others at the audition may have done better than he did, but he displayed a lot of enthusiasm. He found out in December that he had been chosen for college week. He spent Jan. 18 and 19 taping the show in Hollywood.

“Hollywood Squares” paid for his flight, hotel and even gave him a little spending money.

Although staying in a luxurious room with two king-size beds was great, Whaley said he enjoyed the opportunity to meet the stars. Not only did he meet Cowell, but he also got to meet Carmen Electra.

“She’s a lot shorter than I thought she’d be,” Whaley said.

Other celebrities on the show were Martin Mull, Gary Dell’Abate (“The Howard Stern Show”), Kathy Griffin, Brian Keidik (“Survivor: Thailand”), Joan Rivers, Steve Schirripa (“The Sopranos”) and George Lopez.

Whaley’s competitor was Elena Balinbin from the University of San Francisco. Although Whaley did not win the game, he did win the first round and $1,000.

The Feb. 7 “Hollywood Squares” press release said contestants’ skills are tested in “trivia, strategy, current events and tic-tac-toe.”

“It’s harder than it looks,” Whaley said. “They tell you where to look and when to smile.”

Not to mention, it was sometimes hard to listen carefully to each question and the stars’ responses.

Whaley had difficulty with one question asked of Kathy Griffith. The question was, “What are students at the University of Alabama least likely to do?”

She responded by saying, “They are least likely to study because they are in the South.”

Whaley said his statement was “false,” due to Southern Methodist University’s location in the South. Although her statement was said to be true, Whaley said he wasn’t about to agree to a question that made the southern schools look bad.

Even though Whaley thought the overall experience was great, his favorite part was getting to know the other contestants.

“All of the episodes for the week were taped in one day, and there was a lot of down time between tapings to just hang out,” Whaley said.

The set was bigger than Whaley thought it would be, and he said he learned that it is the same stage as for “The Price is Right.” On “The Price is Right,” a camera usually shows the audience members.

“That gives you an idea how large the audience was,” Whaley said. “There were a lot of people there.”

Several members of Whaley’s family were present on the set to give him support.

“Hollywood Squares” has recruited students from SMU for three years now.

“We visited universities all over the country and wanted to represent the great state of Texas,” “Squares” representative Paul Gendreau said. “The administration folks there at SMU welcomed our contestant crew with open arms, so we were happy to come.”

Espino helped coordinate the recruiting for “Hollywood Squares.” She appeared on “The Weakest Link” in April of 2000 when the show was new. The recruiters came to Dallas and Espino decided to try her luck.

The audition process consisted of an application that led to a quiz, which qualified her to answer some questions on a video tape. Two weeks later she was called to be on the show and go to Hollywood.

Since the show was new and the crew was inexperienced, the taping process took about six hours.

“It took a while to get the various shots,” Espino said. “Sometimes they would repeat the question because they didn’t get the right angle on the camera the first time.”

During breaks contestants were kept away from the host, Anne Robinson, so Espino didn’t get to know her.

Espino lost in the last round, forfeiting $97,500.

“I cried, I just cried.” Espino said of her first loss.

Her tears made her a memorable guest and earned her another trip to Hollywood for another episode.

The second time around she lost again, but says, “It was an overall positive experience. The best part was taking a risk . . . a chance not everyone has the opportunity to do.”

Having two game show players in the SMU fold might make would-be participants think it’s easy to get on a show. According to www.seeing-stars.com , that’s hardly the case.

“Out of 1000 people who would like to appear on a game show, only 100 will actually interview, fewer than 10 will get past the initial tests and screening process, and perhaps only one or two will be called back later,” the site said.

And even if picked, the contestant may not actually make it onto the show. Sometimes people are called in as a “back-up” contestants, in case some other contestant gets sick and can’t go on.

But there are tricks to getting chosen.

“The most important thing that a potential contestant can do is watch the show,” the site said.

It also recommends to practice speaking in front of an audience, have a clean appearance, speak up in the interview and read the rules on the application.

The SMU student who appeared on “Wheel of Fortune” back in the ’80s was very successful on the show. Espino said he won two large vans as her grand prize and then donated them to the university.