2007 College Basketball

1. Greg Oden: Led Ohio State to the National Championship game.

In that game he dominated Florida and their pair of top 10 picks Al Horford and Joakim Noah.

He had 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. He hit 10 of 15 shots.

Oden saved Ohio St. for the second straight game with this block vs. #25 Tennessee to preserve an 85-84 win in the Sweet 16.

 

In the regional final against #5 Memphis, the freshman from Indianapolis had 17 and 9 on 7-8 shooting as the Buckeyes got back to the Final Four.

Oden averaged 16-11 and 2.2 blocks while shooting 62% in the NCAAs.

He was the national defensive player of the year. He also was 1^st team All-America by AP. He was the MVP of the Big Ten Tournament  (averaged 17-12-4 blocks) and All-Final Four.

During the regular season, he put up 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and shot 62% from the field.

He led the Big Ten in rebounds, blocks and field goal %. He is the only player ever to accomplish that feat.

Ohio State went to the Final Four after sweeping the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. They knocked out #8 Georgetown 67-60 to advance to the title game.

The Buckeyes went 35-4, including 22 straight wins, to finish the regular season ranked #1. Their four losses were away from home to all top 7 teams.

2. Kevin Durant: Was the consensus national Player of the Year.

Durant was named consensus All-American and Freshman of the Year.

He led the Big 12 in scoring (25.8), rebounding (11.1) and blocks (1.9). He was 4^th in the country in scoring and rebounding.

 He was 4^th in the conference with 1.9 steals and third in free throw % (81.6%). Durant averaged nearly 37 minutes out of 40 a game.

The skinny freshman put in 27 points, including 15-16 FTs, in a 1^st round tournament win over New Mexico St.

He had 30-9 in a 2^nd round loss to #23 USC.

Durant was the MVP of the Big 12 tournament despite Texas falling in the title game to Kansas.

He was also Big 12 All-Defense.

KD had 37-10-6 blocks in the Longhorns defeat to Kansas 88-84 in overtime. KD set the tournament record with 92 points (30.7 per game).

His outburst vs. the Jayhawks was one of his three games, in which, he poured in 37 points. He had eight 30+ point games.

Durant also had 13 double doubles, including a season high of 23 in a win over Texas Tech.

Texas went 25-10 and finished the season #11. They led the Big 12 and were 6^th in the country scoring over 81 points a game.

3. Al Horford: Led Florida to a 2^nd straight national title. He had 18-12-3 in the title game.

He was named to All-Final Four team. He was 2^nd team All-American by the NABC and 3^rd team by AP.

Horford was 1^st team All-SEC.

He was 2^nd in the conference in rebounding (9.5) and 7^th in blocks (1.8). He scored 13.2 PPG and shot 61% from the field.

In the tournament run the Gators’ center averaged 13.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game and shot 60%.

Horford was the SEC Tournament MVP, highlighted by 18-12 in the final pounding of Arkansas.

Florida became the first team in 15 years to repeat as champions after   their 35-5 season. They won 17 straight in the middle of the season.

The Gators spent 16 of 18 weeks in the top 5 (no lower than 7), including seven at #1. They finished #3 in the final poll.

Horford became the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft.