Arguably the best player in the Big 12 Conference, if not the entire country, will make his first – and what figures to be his last – appearance in Allen Fieldhouse today.

“I won’t guarantee this, but I don’t think he’ll make a second trip back,” Kansas University coach Bill Self said of freshman forward and future NBA lottery pick Kevin Durant, who today will lead a young Texas team with Big 12 title aspirations into Allen Fieldhouse.

Tipoff for the game between the No. 3 Jayhawks (26-4 overall, 13-2 Big 12) and No. 15 Longhorns (22-7, 12-3) is 11 a.m., with a live telecast on CBS (channels 5, 13, 201).

Durant – who has yet to declare whether he’ll be back for his sophomore season – would be a junior by the time the Longhorns have a return date in Allen. Suffice it to say nobody expects Durant to remain in college three years.

“I rank him right up there with any player,” said KU sophomore Julian Wright, who at 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, figures to open defensively on the 6-9, 225-pound Durant.

“I’m really impressed with him,” Wright added of Durant, who takes averages of 24.9 points and 11.9 rebounds – 28.7 ppg, 12.7 rpg in Big 12 play – into today’s regular-season finale.

Wright realizes it may be impossible to shut down Durant, who has scored 30 or more points eight times, 20 or more 24 times and has reached double figures each and every time on the court. But the Jayhawks have to try to slow him – or at least make sure he doesn’t win the game by himself.

“We will not get into a 1-on-1 contest. He is too talented,” Wright said. “He’s good at drawing fouls and shooting free throws (165 of 206 for 80.1 percent). It will take a team effort, communication, trying to prevent easy buckets.”

All of the Jayhawks have seen plenty of film on Durant.

Freshman Darrell Arthur may know the player’s tendencies better than others. Arthur, a 6-9 native of Dallas, faced Durant, a native of Suitland, Md., on the AAU circuit.

“He did damage,” Arthur said. “That’s when he probably first came out and just started killing people. I really didn’t know him too much, but now he’s one of the best players in the league right now, or nation, right now. So he’s pretty good.”

Arthur will likely guard Durant at some point today.

“We’ve just got to play some good ‘D’ on him, stay on him, have some fresh legs on him every time and just try to contain him,” Arthur said. “It’s going to be pretty fun to guard him. We’re going to have me guard him, ‘JuJu’ (Wright), probably Darnell (Jackson), so everybody’s going to get a chance.”

KU coach Bill Self, who cast his vote for Durant for Big 12 preseason player of the year, has studied reams of tape and seen teams try various defenses on Durant.

“They’ve put guards on him, they switch ball screens, trap down, put a big guy on him. There are a lot of things you can try to do. We may need to try them all,” Self said.

“On paper, if he’s a 4-man, our 4-man is Julian. You need to put an agile guy on him. He can step out from 25 (feet) and make you pay (67 of 162 three-pointers for 41.4 percent on year; 44 of 91 for 48.4 percent in league play). I’d say one of our taller, more athletic guys will get the assignment most of the time.”

The soft-spoken Durant, one of four freshmen in the Longhorns’ starting lineup, says he’s not thinking about personal stats heading into today’s game.

“I’m excited our team has the opportunity to play for the Big 12 title on Saturday,” he said, realizing a win would propel Texas into a tie for the crown with KU and likely Texas A&M, which also could claim a share if KU loses and the Aggies beat Missouri in College Station.

“These are the games that you think about playing in as a kid. It’s why I came to Texas. I have a great deal of respect for the Kansas players,” he noted. “They are playing well right now and so are we. It should be a great game and entertaining game for the fans. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Texas coach Rick Barnes has grown fond of reading those types of statements from Durant in the press. He’s remained humble all season long.

Texas forward Kevin Durant (35) and guard A.J. Abrams, left, celebrate their 98-96 victory Wednesday over Texas A&M. The victory set up today's showdown with Kansas University for a share of the Big 12 title.

“For a guy 18 years old and the way he sees things, it’s pretty remarkable,” Barnes said. “He is not afraid to carry it (the team) when he has to. On the other hand, he’s willing to share it. He doesn’t care about personal things.

“He was asked the question last night who should be player of the year in the Big 12. He said ‘Acie (Law, A&M).’ He recently said he didn’t want to do any more interviews if he had to talk about the NBA. He said, ‘Coach the NBA is the farthest thing from my mind right now. My teammates deserve the attention as much as I do.”’

Yet Durant is willing to be the focus of attention on the court.

“We never talked to him about averaging a certain amount of points. We did say, ‘You need to have a player of the year-type year,”’ Barnes said. “I said, ‘Selfishly we need you to have that type of year. We’re that young.”’

Obviously Durant has responded.

“I wouldn’t classify his year as a freshman year,” Barnes said. “I’ll put him up against anybody in the country, no matter what class. If the season ended today, nobody would have had the impact of Kevin Durant.”