40 Acres Sports

Talk about getting things off to a good start for newcomers Kevin Durant, DJ Augustin, and Damion Jones. Texas dominated (more like annihilated) Alcorn St 103-44, with 20 points coming from Freshman blue chip Kevin Durant.

This is a good sign as I was quite nervous coming into this season. Texas lost all 5 starters from last year’s squad, including Lamarcus Aldridge, PJ Tucker, and Daniel Gibson. It is tough to fill that much loss of talent, but it looks like Durant, Jones, and Augustin may be the new trio. Can you imagine how good Texas would be with Durant, Tucker, and Aldridge on the front-line. That would be sick.

One funny note about this game is that Texas was actually down 9-1 at one point in the game. That means they went on a 101-35 run. Crazy.

Durant was co-MVP with 16 points, seven boards and four assists.

Draft Express has excellent conversation with the future Longhorn.

Andy Katz is very high on the Horn’s entire recruiting class.

How the age limit will affect the 2006 and 2007 drafts, as well as the Horns and Kevin Durant.

The rumors are no longer rumors, [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] has officially committed to play for the Texas Longhorn basketball program.

This is the biggest commitment ever for the Longhorns. T.J. Ford was a highly sought after recruit nationally and did much to turn the program into what it is now. Ford made it okay for Texas high school prep stars to stay in state to play college basketball. Durant will do that on a national scale. He’s the highest rated player to ever commit to play for the Horns. The 6’9″ small forward has drawn comparisons to Houston Rocket Tracy McGrady with his ability to shoot from the outside, handle the basketball, and drive to the hoop. His offensive game is more polished than other player coming out of high school this year and should make an immediate impact at Texas.

But if Kevin Durant is so talented and polished, will he ever actually step foot on campus in Austin or is he headed straight for the NBA? Well right now it’s looking pretty good for the Longhorns. Durant appears to be excited about the opportunity to play at Texas. He has said he hopes to win a national title for the Longhorns and hopes to convince fellow blue chippers Darrell Arthur and D.J. Augustin to join him.

Another factor in Texas’ favor is that the proposed NBA minimum-age rule looks more and more like it will be part of the next collective bargaining agreement. A minimum age of 19 would mean Durant would have to spend at least one year in school. Though the league and the players’ union are at odds in several areas, this appears to be one area where both side are in some agreement.

With Rick Barnes pulling off the biggest recruiting coup in program history, the football team coming off a Rose Bowl victory and already reeling in 21 commitments with eight months to go, baseball and softball teams making it to the world series, and a recent track national championship, Longhorn sports teams are having a fantastic first half of 2005. Hopefully they finish the year off as well as they’ve started.

Scout.com is reporting that Kevin Durant, the nation’s top SF prospect, will commit to play basketball at Texas tomorrow. Stay tuned…