Hard work helped NBA’s Durant reach Olympics
ALL-MET ELITE
MONTROSE CHRISTIAN HS.
ROCKVILLE MD.
Charles Craig, an AAU coach with the PG Jaguars, noticed the boy from Seat Pleasant who had uncommon range and a particular affinity for getting to the hoop. Durant joined the Jaguars and played alongside future Kansas State University standout Michael Beasley. Together they won multiple AAU titles.
Durant played his final AAU season with the D.C. Blue Devils alongside future NBA guard Ty Lawson of Clinton. He started his high school career at National Christian Academy in Fort Washington before moving on to basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.). He finished high school at Montrose Christian in Rockville under the tutelage of coach Stu Vetter.
By his senior year in 2006 Durant had grown to 6-foot-9 and his wingspan resembled more of a pterodactyl than a high schooler. There is a picture on Montrose Christian’s website of Durant making the ‘T’ in Montrose with his now 7-foot-5 wingspan. With big man size, point guard ball-handling skills and the predacious instincts of a power forward, Durant led Montrose Christian in scoring and steals and earned a spot on the McDonald’s All-American team.
This is Kevin Durant the wunderkind.
“We knew right away he was in a category all in his own,” said Vetter, who has coached more than 100 Division I players. “He combines the talents of a superstar and the work ethic — Kevin is one of those players with the talent and the work ethic.”
At 6 a.m. every day before school he would arrive at the Montrose Christian gym with future University of Maryland star Greivis Vasquez and guard Taishi Ito. The trio would shoot jumpers for half an hour before classes, until it was time for weightlifting and practice.
“At Montrose one thing we pride ourselves in is the work ethic of all of our players,” Vetter said. “I would have loved to have him in his younger years because obviously he was very talented before we got him but you could see constant daily improvement. You can still see it today. He has that wow factor.” University of Texas coach Rick Barnes wanted Durant in a program to prepare him for Longhorn basketball. Barnes knew of the long line of talented former Montrose athletes and steered Durant in Vetter’s direction. When In 2009 he donated $25,000 to the Seat Pleasant Activity Center, once his home away from home. The money was used to renovate a room dubbed “Durant’s Den” that includes a vinyl floor which replicates a basketball court, two 55-inch LCD flat screen TVs, a projection screen, an Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3. He’s also participated multiple times in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored by the Community Kinship Coalition, a Seat Pleasant nonprofit organization that does community outreach.Durant arrived for his freshman season in a Texas uniform in 2007, he was more than ready.
