Following an unprecedented year during Big 12 play, Durant led the league in both points and rebounds per game (29.3 ppg, 13.1 rpg). Durant was also the first player in the history of the Big 12 to score 400 points and grab 200 rebounds in one Big 12 season.
While the Freshman of the Year honors were a forgone conclusion many games ago, the overall Player of the Year award came down to the wire between Durant and Texas A&M's Acie Law. In any other year Law's numbers (20.8 ppg, 4.9 apg) would have garnered him such accolades, this year he was competing with one of the most dynamic players in NCAA history.
There was, however, a good argument to be made on Acie's part. Many feel the POY should be the best player on the best team, and that was arguably Acie Law for A&M. You would be hard pressed to find a more clutch player in the Big 12 this year. As Texas and Kansas can attest to, Law seemed to elevate his game to an annoyingly high level (for Texas fans anyway) against the best competition in the league.
In the end, though, the most talented player with the highest stats won out for the annual award. The only major award left for Durant to recieve will be the Naismith National Player of the Year awarded later this year. Durant seems to be the favorite thus far in the season to win (with Law, Wisconsin's Alando Tucker, UCLA's Arron Affalo and Ohio State's Greg Oden as the top contenders). Durant would be the second Texas player to win the National POY as T.J. Ford took home the award in 2003.
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