University of Texas freshman Kevin Durant of Suitland, MD, has been selected player of the year and Tony Bennett, in his first year at Washington State, coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Durant, a 6-9 guard/forward, received the Oscar Robertson Trophy as the nation's outstanding player. He is the first freshman selected by the USBWA to win the award.

Bennett, who succeeded his father Dick as head coach at Washington State this season, received the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award.

Both were honored by the USBWA on Friday, March 30, at an awards breakfast at Philips Arena in Atlanta, host city for this year's NCAA Final Four. A portion of the proceeds from the breakfast benefited the National Kidney Foundation, Georgia chapter.

Durant, who earlier was named player of the year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), was the leading scorer (25.8 ppg) and rebounder (11.1 rpg) for Texas this season and led the Longhorns to a 25-10 record. He was also named to the USBWA all-America first team and selected the top freshman in the nation by the USBWA.

Bennett, 37, guided Washington State to its first NCAA tournament in 13 years this season after the Cougars had been picked in the preseason to finish last in the Pac-10 Conference. Bennett guided the Cougars to a 25-7 regular season record, a second place finish in the Pac-10 and a No. 3 seed in the East Region of the NCAA tournament. Washington State defeated Oral Roberts, 70-54 in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Vanderbilt in the second round, 78-74, in double overtime.

Bennett, a native of Green Bay, WI, is the first coach in the history of the Pac-10 to take his team from last place in the conference the previous season to an NCAA tournament berth the following year. He was an assistant for one year at WSU and two years as associate head coach under his father before being elevated to the head coaching position after last season. Dick Bennett, a long-time college coach, took Wisconsin to the NCAA Final Four in 2000 and later retired. He came out of retirement to coach at Washington State for three years before retiring at the end of the 2005-06 season.

The Oscar Robertson Trophy is the nation's oldest player of the year award and the only one named after a player. Oscar Robertson, named by the NABC as Player of the Century, was the first three-time national player of the year winner (1958, 1959 and 1960) while at the University of Cincinnati and was also the first player to lead the NCAA in scoring for three years.

Henry Iba coached Oklahoma A&M; to two national championships in 1945 and 1946 and was head coach of the United States Olympic team in 1964, 1968 and 1972.

Click here for more information about the Oscar Robertson Trophy.