Was Durant Among the All-Time Great Athletes at Texas?
July 19, 2008 by Kevin Hunter
Filed under Basketball
When I saw that the University of Texas was retiring the jerseys of several famous athletes and Kevin Durant’s name was on the list I thought….
Huh?
Durant was a great player and all, but does a one-and-done player who didn’t win a thing while with the Longhorns deserve to be in the same class as Vince Young, Ricky Williams, Roger Clemens and T.J. Ford?
In his one and only season at Texas in 2006-07, Durant was an All-American, the Big 12 Player of the Year and National Player of the Year among other numerous awards he received.
He opted out for the NBA Draft and had a very solid season for the Seattle (soon to be Oklahoma City) Supersonics winning NBA Rookie of the Year honors.
But does he really deserve to have his jersey retired at a school known for its outstanding athletes who all stayed for more than one year?
Wow, I can not believe this. To even be mentioned in that class says a lot, let alone to be a part of it after only one season. It’s hard to say because it does seem like in no way should a one-and-done player earn this right short of winning a championship for the team, but with the NBA rule it seems like it would be hard to discriminate against such players.