A 6'9" swingman with a 7'5" wingspan,[11] Durant was one of four freshman starters for the University of Texas basketball team. Durant started in all 35 games of the season, which culminated with a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the University of Southern California. Texas finished third in the conference with a 12–4 record and was the runner-up in the 2007 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.[12]
Although he had a slender frame, Durant frequently used it to his advantage by posting up bigger players, while shooting over smaller guards.[13] ESPN analyst Dick Vitale praised Durant as the "most prolific offensive skilled big perimeter" ever and proceeded to compare Durant's game to those of current NBA stars like Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki.[14] After a 37-point, 23-rebound winning performance against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, head coachBob Knight described Durant as quick, fast and mobile, and being "really good".[15] Texas coach Rick Barnes admitted to rarely calling set plays for Durant, instead relying on Durant himself and on his teammates to find him within the flow of the offense.[16]
Coming into the season, Durant was widely hailed by the media as the Big 12's top freshman and a top candidate to be named Freshman of the Year.[17] He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game during his freshman season with the Texas Longhorns. In Big 12 games he averaged 28.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. His college career high for scoring was 37 points, which he achieved on four occasions. Durant had thirty 20-point games his freshman year, including 37 in 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,[18] and received the Oscar Robertson Trophy[19] and theAdolph F. Rupp Trophy,[20] becoming the first freshman to win each of these awards. On March 30, 2007, 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.[18][21] On April 1, 2007, he became the first freshman to receive the Naismith Award[22] and on April 7, 2007, won theJohn R. Wooden Award.[23] Less than a week after being drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, the University of Texas announced the retirement of Durant's No.35 jersey. The number will now hang in the rafters at the Frank Erwin Center along with the No.11 of former Longhorn great T. J. Ford.[24] Durant's jersey is now one of nine retired by the University of Texas .
