Best Texas basketball players: All-time starting lineup

Best Texas basketball players: All-time starting lineup – From T.J. Ford to Kevin Durant

AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 14: Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder enjoys the game from the sidelines as the Texas Longhorns host the Mississippi Rebels on September 14, 2013 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) /

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Kevin Durant #35 of the Texas Longhorns (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

SF – Kevin Durant

Last but not least is Kevin Durant, the player who statistically might have had the greatest freshman season in the history of the NCAA. Durant was viewed by most as the second-best player in his recruiting class (with Greg Oden widely thought of as the top prospect) so getting him to come from Maryland to Texas was a big feather in Rick Barnes’ recruiting cap.

Durant’s class was the first group of high school seniors who were impacted by the new age limit imposed by the NBA where players had to be 19 years old and one year removed from their high school graduating class in order to be eligible to enter the draft. This meant Durant had to spend a year in college and everyone in Austin was honored that he picked their school to do it at. He would ultimately be a one-and-done but he did more than enough to leave his mark on the school.

His 903 points scored remains a record for the highest point total by a single player in a single season. He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game in his 35-game career with Texas basketball. The Longhorns would go 25-10 on the season and finish second in the Big-12 in the regular season and conference tournament. They received the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament but would be upset by the USC Trojans in the second round, despite a 30-point, nine-rebound performance from Durant.

Durant was the second player in school history to earn national player of the year honors. Durant would sweep the honors (Associated Press, Naismith Award, Rupp Trophy and Wooden Award) becoming the first freshmen in NCAA history to winy any player of the year award and the first freshmen to be a unanimous recipient of the awards.

Durant was also the first freshmen to earn Big 12 Player of the Year honors. He was the third freshmen ever to be named a first-team All-American. Durant’s number 35 jersey was retired by the school in 2009 making him the second men’s basketball player in history to have his jersey hung in the rafters.

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