Little by little, Kevin Durant working toward his degree

OKLAHOMA CITY — As if Kevin Durant didn't have enough on his plate with his team's relocation to Oklahoma City, the reigning Rookie of the Year is taking time to go back to school.

Durant took a class at the University of Texas this summer and hopes to graduate with a degree in education and a minor in social work.

"Ever since I was young, my mom always wanted me to finish school and I promised her that I would," Durant said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

"I went back and I took classes. It was tough being away from school for a year and then coming back and taking classes. It was tough, but I tried to push myself through it and I think I did well. Hopefully next summer I'll take more classes and keep going from there."

After leaving Austin after only one season, he admits he's got some work to do before he'll be donning his cap and gown.

"It's going to take me a while, but I'm going to stick with it," Durant said.

Durant squeezed in the three-credit hour class following the NBA season and before making time to join his teammates at summer league this week. He plans to double his course load next summer.

In his first trip back to campus after becoming a superstar, Durant said he "felt like a regular student going back to school," although the slender 6-foot-9 forward didn't exactly go unnoticed.

"I was only gone for a year, so most of the guys that were in my class, they were my classmates when I was there. They knew who I was. We shared the same dorm and everything. Everybody knew who I was because I'd been around there not too long ago," Durant said.

"It was just like going back to school, just missing a couple days of school and then going back. That's how I felt."

General manager Sam Presti said Jeff Green, the team's other first-round draft pick last year, has been taking classes at Georgetown. He called the two multitaskers and said it "shows that education is important to those guys."

"After the long season, 82 games like that, those guys need to take some time -- but, at the same time, they want to be in the gym, they want to get better, because that's where they like to be. They're both like that," Presti said. "At the same time, we want to try to manage it so they do get off their feet a little bit."

Durant isn't one to sit still, though. He found it difficult to watch from the bench during Oklahoma City's first summer league action Monday, sidelined by a lack of game sneakers.

The following day, he joined first-round picks Russell Westbrook and D.J. White on the court and scored 22 points in 28 minutes.

"I was excited to put on that Oklahoma City jersey and play with them. That was fun," Durant said. "Russell and D.J., they play very hard and they're great guys to play with. They make me better and I try to make them better as well."

"I'm more than excited to play with them this year and also to play in Oklahoma City."

Durant said he was at school in Austin last week when he got a call from his agent informing him that the SuperSonics' ownership had reached a settlement that would allow the team to relocate to Oklahoma City two years before its lease ran out in Seattle. At first, he thought it was an unfounded rumor.

Instead, the 19-year-old will be making his fifth move in as many years. He transferred from a Virginia high school to one in Maryland for his senior year before spending one year each in Austin and Seattle.

Durant said he hopes to visit Oklahoma City in mid-August to start looking for a new home for himself, his mother and his cousin.

"Hopefully I find something very nice and close to practice facility," Durant said. "I'm just trying to weigh all my options and see where's the best place for me and my family to live, and we'll go from there."