Kevin Durant
From Hoopedia
Kevin Durant (born September 29, 1988 in Suitland, Maryland) is a 6'10" player who played for the University of Texas at Austin in the Big 12 Conference of the NCAA during the 2006-07 season. He was selected as the 2006-2007 Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Year and received numerous other awards. After his freshman season, Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft.
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High School
A basketball player from his earliest days, Durant played for a very successful AAU youth basketball team. Durant's team, the PG Jaguars, won multiple national championships and included fellow blue chip recruits Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and Chris Braswell (Georgetown). Durant later moved on to play AAU ball with fellow McDonald's All American Tywon Lawson (North Carolina) for the DC Blue Devils. During this time Durant also starred for the Oak Hill Academy basketball team, which won the 2005 USA Today National Championship.
Durant transferred back home for the 2005-2006 school year to play for Stu Vetter at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland. At Montrose, Durant led the team in scoring and was named 2006 All-Met Player of the Year in Boy's Basketball by the Washington Post.
Durant also was named a McDonald's All American and was co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald's All American game with Chase Budinger. Coming out of high school, Durant was widely regarded as the second-best high school basketball player from the class of 2006 (behind Greg Oden).
Texas Longhorns
Durant, a 6' 10" small forward with a 7'4¾" wingspan, was widely hailed by the media as the Big 12's top freshman and a top candidate for Freshman of the Year. He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds a game his freshman year. In Big 12 play he averaged 28.9 points per game and 12.5 rebounds. His college career high for scoring is 37, which he achieved on four occasions. Durant had twenty 30-point games his freshman year, including a losing effort against Kansas for the regular season Big 12 title.
In March 2007, Durant was named the NABC Division I Player of the Year, and received the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Adolph F. Rupp Trophy, becoming the first college freshman to win each of these awards. He was selected as the Associated Press College Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman and the first Texas athlete to receive this award since its inception in 1961. He was also the first freshman to receive the Naismith Award. He also won the John Wooden Award.
In late February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the Team USA Basketball training camp. He is the second freshman to be invited to the camp (Greg Oden being the other).
NBA
NBA Draft
Durant declared himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft. Most experts currently view him and fellow freshman Greg Oden as the two players likely to be selected first in the draft, either first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers or second by the Seattle SuperSonics.
In 2007 Durant signed his first professional contract, with Upper Deck. The company said that Durant will be the focus of their 2007-08 NBA trading card line. Other athletes with Upper Deck deals include LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. Durant was also announced to be on the cover of the new NCAA March Madness 2008 video game by EA Sports. Durant is spending time in Canada while programmers create his game.
Most recently, Durant has been named to the U.S. National Basketball Team.
Awards
High School
College
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External Links
Seattle Super Sonics Durant NO #2 PICK 2007 draft
