Post-Durant Longhorns have plenty in reserve
AUSTIN -- Kevin Durant has remained a fixture around the Cooley Pavilion, participating in individual workout sessions and team pickup games as though he were still a part of the Texas basketball program.
But as final exams play out this week, college basketball's consensus player of the year will be history once he completes his pledge to finish the semester so as to not hurt Texas' Academic Progress Rate and begins to look toward his NBA career. Kevin Durant in absentia will become part of UT basketball lore, soon to share a display case on the team's wall of honor with 2003 Naismith and Wooden award winner T.J. Ford.
But in what has become a yearly passage since Ford became the first of an elite parade of UT players to leave early for The League, those who remain also refocus and look ahead.
"I don't know yet how we're going to play next season," coach Rick Barnes said. "But I know it's going to be fun."
With depth unseen since 2004 and the influx of another possible star in freshman forward Gary Johnson, Barnes has initiated what longtime aide Todd Wright sees as a new push -- in part energized by Barnes' decision to remain at Texas rather than move to a new challenge at Kentucky.
"I think coach said, 'OK, we're staying here, now we've got to go.' And there are a bunch of things we can all get better at," said Wright, who has been Barnes' strength and conditioning coach for almost 14 years.
"It's been really cool. I've been excited about how he's energized all of us. It's like it's time for us to try to put it over the top, and we all believe we can do it here."
After saying no thanks to an opportunity to go home, which he could have done if he had accepted North Carolina State's offer last spring, Barnes' decision to stay at Texas caused a collective sigh of relief around the program.
"A [member of the administration] said to me one day recently that he felt the only two jobs I would ever leave for would be N.C. State and Kentucky and there is probably something to that," Barnes said. "I don't know if I'm any different with it now; I just know we've still got work to do here. I told my coaches if we would have taken the Kentucky job, I would have expected us to recruit the best players in the country and I expect that here.
"I also know there are still things we have to do here to keep going. The day I get where I quit thinking about ways to make it better, I know it's time to stop. And right now, I'm as excited as ever to do the things we want to get done."
At recent count, three of the country's top five juniors and three of the state's top juniors all list Texas as a possible destination.
Coinciding with last spring, when three players left for the NBA, the Longhorns expect immediate impact from the incoming class led by Johnson, one of the state's top-rated players by Texashoops.com.
But two returning players could have a lot to say about how Texas plays next season -- sophomores Damion James and Dexter Pittman.
James, asked for the first time to play inside because of Kevin Durant's ability and UT's lack of low-post presence, now moves outside to a more natural position and has already begun a regime of taking 500 mid-range shots a day. Wright said James has had the most impressive off-season physically -- improving both strength and quickness -- of any current player.
Barnes said he doesn't want James to feel he has to fill Kevin Durant's shoes. "No player in the country can do that," he said.
He just wants him to be who he is.
"I matured this year and I understand the game and what you have to do to win," James said. "Last season benefited me in the long run and will make me a better player.
"It's going to be fun to go back to my natural position, and I will be a more versatile player, be productive every night, be a leader and do what I have to do to help this team win."
As key as James could be -- guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams remain the constants -- Pittman could have a major impact if he can shed another 15-20 pounds to around 275.
"Dex is unlike anyone we've had, anyone in this league with his size and mobility," Barnes said. "He can score it, he can defend, he can do a lot of things.
"But he's got to continue to lose the weight to sustain it. If he does, he could change the way we play."
Pittman has already changed his lifestyle while losing more than 80 pounds from last June. He likes where he's going.
"I see my body starting to tone up," Pittman said. "I can see cuts and everything.
"I'm hoping one day I will be the best player I can be. But right now, I'm not satisfied with my skills. I know I have a lot more work to do. And I'm working hard at it every day.
"Like Muhammed Ali said, 'You suffer now, but you live the rest of your life as a champion.'"
James offered this perspective for those who expect the Longhorns to suffer post-Kevin Durant:
"They're going to be in for a big surprise," he said.
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