Kevin Durant's Longhorn Legacy

Discussion in 'Men’s Basketball' started by VYFan, May 18, 2012.

  1. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    As the VYFan, I suppose I can be the one to ask this. On the radio yesterday, the question was posed:

    "If Kevin Durant wins further scoring titles, plus MVP's and championships, etc., in his career, will there ever come a time where he replaces Vince Young as the most beloved of the former Longhorns?"

    The consensus was no, since Vince accomplished his greatness while still in a UT uniform, but if Kevin keeps escalating his profile and Vince becomes a longer-ago memory, perhaps that could change. (The way recency gets emphasized, I'm sure there are readers who would wonder why the question isn't James Street or Earl Campbell--but that makes my point that there is a "what have you done for me lately" process that is inevitable.)

    What do you think? Will Kevin Durant ever become the number one face for the pride of our athletic program?
     
  2. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    If I get a response from "KDFan" then I think I'll know how this is going!
     
  3. Third Coast

    Third Coast 10,000+ Posts

    I like them both the same.

    So much so that I just might change my name to KYFan.
     
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  4. majorwhiteapples

    majorwhiteapples 5,000+ Posts

    NOBODY WILL EVER REPLACE THE MAJOR!!!!!

    Football trumps basketball in so many different ways, I would even say baseball trumps basketball.
     
  5. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    The problem is that while KD won every award possible his only year here, it was just that, one year here, and we bowed out in the 2nd round of the tournament.

    Not only should VY have won the Heisman, he won the National Championship here and two Rose Bowls.

    As a Longhorn, KD cannot ever touch VY's legacy. Now, he will accomplish more as a pro, and we will all be very proud of him, but his time in a Texas uniform doesnt equate to that of VY.
     
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  6. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts


     
  7. HornsForever'93

    HornsForever'93 1,000+ Posts

    This is such a joke. Durant had a cup of coffee here and his team did squat. We all know what VY accomplished here
     
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  8. arieshorn

    arieshorn 1,000+ Posts

    VY ended the 35 year National championship drought. Each and everyone of us Horns will always remember that magical night in Texas Longhorn lore. No comparison.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  9. EPThorn

    EPThorn 500+ Posts

    the only b-baller that comes close is TJ Ford. He accomplished all the same individual accolades, was here 2 years and carried Texas to a final four.
     
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  10. Texanne

    Texanne 5,000+ Posts

    I think they both deserve a prominent place in Longhorn lore. As long as KD continues to sign his autograph with a "Hook 'em Horns", I will continue to love him.

    But not more than I love Vince Young.
     
  11. Third Coast

    Third Coast 10,000+ Posts

  12. giveemhell

    giveemhell 1,000+ Posts

    Success in pro sports has a funny way of altering people’s perceptions and memories. Greg Swindell was by far the more dominant college pitcher here, yet Roger Clemens is generally considered the more iconic Longhorn.

    Swindell holds record after Longhorn record (including over 500 career strike-outs, a feat only six other Division I pitchers have ever achieved), but Clemens went on to win five Cy Young awards, thus sealing his legacy here in the mind of the average fan.
     
  13. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  14. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  15. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    KD could have played at least 2 years for the school he loves so much.

    IMHO TJ's contribution to UT basketball far outweighs KD's.
     
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  16. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    And got much better the next year without him. Most of that is explainable in that a bunch of freshman and sophomores turned into sophomores and juniors, especially D. J. Augustine improved by leaps and bounds. And it's not like he was being selfish or holding back the team or anything. But still, in college he wasn't much different than Michael Beasley.
     
  17. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Trying to think of the best way to say this...

    The thing that makes you a legend on campus is not the same thing as what makes you "the face of the program" - one's inside-out and the other's outside-in. For example, what KD accomplished at Texas means little to nothing to anyone outside of the 40 Acres. He made his name as a pro, that's why he's who he is today. Not what he did here - that was largely irrelevant.

    I think he's great, I'm glad he was here, and I'm proud of the part that UT played in who he is today. To people outside the program, he's a great ambassador and representative of this school. But as an alum, I don't feel that I shared a whole lot in his success. And he didn't bring any additional glory to the UT hoops tradition aside from the fact that he was here. When people think of KD's accomplishments, they will never think of UT. They will think of his championship with Golden State and his prolific years at OKC.

    Vince, Ricky, and Earl are known for what they accomplished on this campus first. They went on to do other things, but they will always be associated with UT - even among people who saw them succeed after they left. Those guys provided me (not so much Earl, I was a little young to appreciate him at the time) with unbelievable memories and experiences, and as an alum, I felt like I shared a small part of that success with them. We had that thing in common, to a much greater extent than anyone in northern California will ever have with anything KD accomplishes, or even that UT alumni will have with what KD accomplished after he left. To me, bragging about KD as an alum kind of feels like a bandwagon thing - like the person who talks about having known Taylor Swift in grade school. "OK... so what?"

    So the long answer is that KD will never be to the UT base what Vince or Ricky are. Doesn't mean we don't love him and wish him well and want him to stay connected with the program. It's just not the same.
     
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  18. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    No issues what the above statement per se. However each sport is different. Under this logic Spieth falls into the same category as KD which I cannot agree with.
     
  19. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Spieth won a title and a bunch of individual hardware, so his accomplishments at UT are way more significant than anything KD accomplished here. If KD had won a conference championship, let alone a national championship, he would certainly be in the legendary category.

    Ultimately, Jordan and Vince both put chalk on the board for Texas, and KD didn't.
     
  20. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    My view about how alums like me view fellow gifted Longhorns who are athletic superstars is based upon not just what they contributed while wearing burnt orange, but what they might have further contributed to UT if not leaving early.

    Examples, both Earl and Ricky showed promise, but their collegiate greatness was not completely fulfilled up to their junior years, both with regard to team goals and individual goals. Of course at Earl's time leaving early was just starting to be a trend. Still, by staying he won UT's first Heisman and was the key player in taking Texas to an 11-0 record and No. 1 ranking for most of the season, until that...

    Ricky, though not as fortunate to help Texas as a team get that lofty, still had that magical last regular season game in Austin beating aggy with national eyes all over him as he broke Dorsett's rushing record and earned Texas' second Heisman.

    If either had left early, well they certainly would have no bronze stiffarm casting on their trophy shelf and their legendary view by Texans would have been much lower. And by staying for all 4 years, they certainly had no more to contribute to UT Austin except for reflection from professional performance.

    Vince? Well, he just finished back to back years as Rose Bowl MVP, with a big ol' cherry on top of a team national championship. Maybe he could come back to a team that was losing a TON of NFL talent to the draft, with the only reasonable goal he could hope to add to what he already had accomplished, a Heisman trophy. Done your job, Vince, and good luck in the NFL,

    TJ Ford was a bit different. A Houston kid who could have gone anywhere in the country at a time when it was still hard to keep Texas bballers instate, at least to go to Austin. He led a Texas team that had the unfortunate luck of facing a red hot Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse in the semis at the Final Four. That Syracuse team then beat Kansas next for the national championship. No disgrace there. More importantly, TJ had a progressing spinal problem and had already taken some hard falls to the hardwood, leaving him and his doctors wondering if his next fall might be his last. I'm sure Barnes sat down with TJ after New Orleans and advised him to take the money now, with thanks for helping Barnes establish UT Austin as a destination school for Texas high school ballers. A basketball Final Four appearance at UT Austin is almost equal to a national championship in football or baseball, at least with regard to expectations.

    All four of the above were in a sport in which reliance on teammates is critical. Baseball is also like that somewhat, but has a bit more of individual quality to it (e.g., pitchers).

    Tennis and golf, not so much. Mostly individual sports; if you (Spieth) are the best player on one of these teams and your team wins the national championship and you win all kinds of awards as part of it, makes perfect sense to leave early. In both of these sports you're an individual, one-athlete team when going pro. No draft, no front office, no clipboard holding --- you're in business for yourself against the world. Staying in college after you've been the key player on the team that just won the national championship, when you should be out on your own in the critical early years of these sports makes little sense. What, so you can take a course in "English Literature, the Shakespearan Years"? It'll be there a few years later if you want to go back (see TJ, Vince, Earl).

    So, IMHO, both considerations are important --- 1) what have you accomplished right now versus 2) how much more could you realistically do for the school by playing another year as compared to what you could do right now as a pro? I think Earl, Ricky, TJ, and Jordan all made reasonable decisions on these bases. KD, though winning player of the year awards in his one year in Austin, I think still had some more contribution in his tank for the school. Not hating on him, but just respecting the other guys a bit more in the context of their decisions.
     
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  21. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    I pretty much agree with the comments here, but I think there is an odd negativity toward KD in the tone.

    First, no one ever had a better year as a UT basketball player than Durant. He was the best player in the country and the best we ever had. They don't have basketball Heismans but if they did, he would have won it. Any limitations on the team were not his.

    Second, no one of Durant's caliber ever played a second year of college ball--at least not in the last 25 years. There is no possible argument he went pro "too early." The same logic applies as applies to Spieth. Who plays amateur when he may be the best in the world already?

    Finally, there are some great memories of Durant playing here, in games against KU and A&M and others. He really was a longhorn and wore the orange and white, not a mirage.
     
  22. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    I hoped I gave enough detail as to why my opinion of KD versus other UT stellar athletes of recent was a bit lower. I didn't hide anything and don't consider my opinion on why as being "odd" any more than your opinion should be considered "odd."


    Well, yes, as far as national awards go. TJ was awarded the Naismith and Wooden, and that was about it nationally. KD was awarded those and 3 or 4 other national POY awards that TJ didn't win. Whether the Naismith or Wooden, or combination of both equate to the Heisman, I don't know. But both TJ and KD have those trophies in their trophy case at home.

    Whether KD had a better year as a freshman than TJ did as a sophomore is subjective. I guess one could cite points/game, rebounds, assists, blocks, etc. --- not going to research it --- but they played different positions so that should be considered as well.

    Me? I also look at how well the team did with either on the court versus other UT teams. A Final Four should be given a fair amount of consideration for how good of a team the player was as the MVP of the team.


    As the Dude ("Big Lebowski") might say: "Well, that's just like, your opinion, man. :smile1:" So Durant did everything right his year at UT, and his teammates did all the wrong?... at least if "any limitations on the team were not his..." is a true claim.


    Uh, yes there is, as I posited above. The biggest reason is that his contribution to The University of Texas at Austin had not yet resulted in anything of significance as far as team success was concerned, unless one and done in the Big Dance is significant in a 64+ team field. If Kevin Durant had never played for UT Austin what difference would it have made? Not sure that would have been true had not Earl, Ricky, TJ, or VY played as a Longhorn, whose tenures at the 40 Acres brought national acclaim to UT Austin athletics. College golf is so far in the background, Spieth doesn't really come into play w/r/t UT Austin national exposure.


    Yeah, I drove up from SA twice to see KD play in the Erwin Center, one against Bobby Knight's Tceh team. It was easy to see KD's superior talent as a freshman lighting it up that night and I was a proud UT alum to see such a talent be playing bball in Austin. And a huge game, I stood the entire game with a seat at the very highest row in the arena --- that double (?) OT on national TV against aggy and ACLawIII. So, yeah, I also supported him as a fellow Longhorn by making the trek up to Austin a couple of times, specifically to see him play.
     
  23. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    My comment that I found the tone odd wasn't particularized toward you, so no need to get excited.
     
  24. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    Thanks, and I respect your opinion on the subject, just have a bit of a different take on it. It's all good.

    Hook 'em
     
  25. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    I don't think it's negative towards Durant to say he's not - at the University of Texas - in the same category as Earl, Ricky, VY, and TJ.

    Personally I'd take TJ Ford's sophomore season, although it's a close one.
     
  26. VYFan

    VYFan 2,500+ Posts

    I will repeat: I pretty much agree with all the factual, objective arguments made in every post. I wouldn't trade Durant's longhorn legacy for Earl, Ricky, or Vince. (Ford, yes, but that's not the point--and I wouldn't trade the FF, but that's not TJ's individually.)

    My surprise was the tone-- not the denotation but the connotation.

    If I am talking about great longhorns lesser than Earl Campbell--let's say Ben Crenshaw, Lam Jones, Bill Bradley, Houston Street, Scott Spann, Donte Foreman, and yes, Kevin Durant--I wouldn't have the hohum tone I think I read on this thread.

    Aren't you as proud as you can be of Kevin Durant?
     
  27. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I don't really get your issue here. What "tone"? The original post asked "Will Kevin Durant ever become the number one face for the pride of our athletic program?" The answer was "no." Nothing about whether or not we think KD is great or that we're proud he came here, or any of that other stuff.
     
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