Rick Barnes pushes back against comparisons between Texas' Tre Johnson, Kevin Durant

Few people know Kevin Durant better as a player than Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes. That’s because he was Durant’s head coach when he was a college athlete for the Texas Longhorns, giving Barnes insight into the star from a young age.

On Saturday, Tennessee played a hard-fought game against Texas and, after the game, Barnes was asked about one of Texas’ young stars, Tre Johnson. That’s because around Texas Johnson has started to earn comparisons to Durant.

“I have great, great, great respect for Tre, but you can’t compare players,” Rick Barnes said. “You can’t. It’s not fair to him. I mean, one guy’s got a 7’6 wingspan. You can’t compare him to, you go down the line.”

Kevin Durant has had a career, even beyond his time in college, that has included 14 All-star selections, the 2014 NBA MVP, and two NBA Championships. Those accolades have put him on a path to be in the Hall of Fame. For anyone, let alone a college player, that’s a difficult comparison to live up to.

Tre Johnson came to Texas as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the fifth-ranked player overall in that recruiting cycle and is listed by Texas as a 6’6 shooting guard.

“I mean, he is a terrific shot-maker for a young guy. I mean, I tell you what I do like about him was his mindset. I didn’t think — KD didn’t flinch. I didn’t think [Johnson] did. That’s the one thing I would say. I was impressed with him. I knew he had the ability to make a lot of difficult shots over top of you, which he does,” Barnes said.

“He’ll carve his own niche out. But you, I mean, you’re talking to 6’11, 7-foot guys to a guy like that. But just great respect for Tre and great respect for what Rodney [Terry] does to get him in position where he can be effective at what he does.”

In the loss to Tennessee, Tre Johnson scored 26 points in 35 minutes. That led both teams in scoring for the game. That came in a season where Johnson is averaging 18.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game through 14 games. He has scored in double-digits in each of his last four games.

While playing for Barnes in college, Durant averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in the one season he played there before going to the NBA. In the process, he earned almost every honor and award he possibly could.

For Tre Johnson, comparisons to Kevin Durant may not be entirely fair. However, the fact he’s earning them at all is proof that he’s doing something right at Texas.