The freshmen were voted to The Associated Press' All-America team Monday, the first members of their class so honored since 1990.
The 6-foot-9 Durant, who led Texas to the Big 12 title game, was the only unanimous choice of the 72-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25.
Oden, the 7-footer who helped Ohio State to its first No. 1 ranking in 45 years, was joined on the team by seniors Alando Tucker of Wisconsin and Acie Law IV of Texas A&M and junior Arron Afflalo of UCLA. The voting was conducted before the NCAA tournament.
Since freshmen became eligible to play in 1972, the only ones selected to the first team had been Wayman Tisdale of Oklahoma in 1983 and Chris Jackson of LSU in 1989.
Durant, the first Texas All-American since T.J. Ford in 2003, averaged 25.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, but it was his all-around game and penchant for big shots in the clutch that had people ranking him as one of the best freshmen ever.
“There's no question Kevin deserves every individual accolade that he will receive,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said, “but the one thing I respect most about Kevin is that he is the ultimate team player. He really doesn't care about the individual numbers and awards. All he cares about is the success of his team. When you're around a guy like that, it makes coaching him a joy.”
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