UT basketball, past and future, was well-represented at the mecca of high school hoops Saturday afternoon at the DISD’s Ellis Davis Field House. The top attraction is 6-10 small forward Kevin Durant from Montrose (Md.) Christian. He’s the Longhorns’ top signee for next season but surely would have opted for the NBA draft had the league not adopted a 1-year after high school waiting period.

But former Texas player Robert Hughes Jr. and former Texas assistant coach Rob Wright hooked up in an afternoon game as Hughes’ Fort Worth Dunbar Wildcats edged Carter in a warmup for the state playoffs that begin next week.

Wright didn’t have to wait until Durant played South Oak Cliff for his first look at him.

“I coached against him when he was a ninth grader playing up (against high schoolers) in the Five-Star camp in Hampton (Va.),’ Wright said. “He was a 6-1 point guard then. He went through quite the growth spurt.”

Durant was being eyed by many colleges then said Wright, who was an assistant at Texas under Tom Penders and followed him to George Washington. But Wright said no one knew back then that Durant would become the No. 2 projected player in the the ’07 NBA draft as he is now. Wright said the top player of that particular Five-Star camp was soon-to-be Wake Forest guard Chris Paul, the leading candidate to be the NBA rookie of the year this season.

Hughes, who has taken over for his legendary coaching dad, has bittersweet memories from Texas. He signed with Abe Lemmons and left for UTA under Bob Weltlich. Hughes said he still keeps up with former Longhorns teammate LaSalle Thompson, in real estate in Sacramento.

Hughes also knows current Texas guard Daniel Gibson of Houston Jones. Gibson, expected to be a Top 10 NBA pick in ’07 as well, played against Hughes’ Houston Wheatley team two years ago.

The four games at Ellis Davis were full of hoops connections. Lincoln coach Leonard Bishop saw his Tigers rally to beat Richardson Berkner. Bishop is off Sunday morning to watch former Tiger Chris Bosh play in the NBA All-Star game in Houston ... Former SOC standout Tony Battie of the Orlando Magic was there watching his Golden Bears and former coach Chris Dyer. Battie had 16 points and 9 rebounds in his last game against Miami before All-star  break. Orlando plays at Cleveland on Tuesday. 

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