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NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
Everybody’s All-American and everybody’s freshman of the year is also the choice for National Player of the Year.

Texas’ Kevin Durant proved there isn’t much he can’t do on the basketball court. The 6-foot-9 guard/forward averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds per game this season. Eleven times he scored 30 or more.

“Special,” says collegeinsider.com’s Matt Drake. “There have been a lot of words used to describe Kevin Durant, but ‘special’ might best sum up his talents. Not only is he an incredible individual talent, but he’s also a team player and that’s a special quality for a kid with his ability. He’s the best thing to happen to college basketball in years.”

Durant recorded 903 points during the year, setting a school and Big 12 season record for scoring. The point total also marked the second-highest point total by a freshman in NCAA history (965 by Chris Jackson of LSU in 1988-89). Durant's 390 rebounds also are a school single-season record and rank second on the Big 12 season chart and third on the NCAA freshman season list.

A finalist for the Naismith and Wooden awards and the first freshman to be named NABC Player of the Year, Durant is only the fourth player in school history to earn first-team All-America recognition from the AP, joining Jack Gray (1935), Chris Mihm (2000) and T.J. Ford (2003).

Durant is the only player in the country to rank in the Top 10 nationally in both scoring (fourth) and rebounding (fourth).