ISU basketball player Wesley Johnson doesn’t look up to Kevin Durant, he just wants to play like him. So, when the 2007 NBA Draft begins at 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN, the sophomore has no doubts about who he thinks should be the first overall pick.

“Kevin Durant,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing he couldn’t do on the court, so, if you guard him, just expect to have your hands full, because he can do everything.”

The Cyclones had their hands full during a Feb. 10 matchup with Texas, as the freshman forward scored 17 points and had six rebounds in the Longhorns’ 77-68 victory over Iowa State. Although Johnson spent most of the evening trying to stop Durant, he was impressed not only by his quickness but by his aggressiveness, something he has been working on during the off-season.

“I don’t see anything he can do that I can’t do,” he said. “I just felt like his mindset was totally on a different scale than mine last year.”

Durant’s mindset may have impressed Johnson, but others have been taken aback by Ohio State’s Greg Oden. Oden, a 7-foot center, played most of the season with an injured right hand, including the Buckeyes’ Dec. 19, 2006, meeting with the Cyclones. The meeting was only his sixth game of the season.

With his wrist protected by a plastic cast and heavily wrapped, the center still managed to score 18 points and pull down nine rebounds – shooting mostly with his left hand.

“It’s amazing to think that someone that’s his size and was just getting back into playing shape would be able to shoot his free throws with his offhand,” said ISU coach Greg McDermott.

Because of his size and the need to have a dominant center on most NBA teams, McDermott said he would take Oden with the first pick.

“He’s going to be a dominant player at the post at that level in some point in time,” he said. “I don’t see another Greg Oden in the horizon the next few years, so I think you have to grab someone like that when you have the opportunity.”

The Cyclones are just one of three teams in the nation to have played both Texas and Ohio State last season.

“I think whoever chooses them is going to get a great player,” McDermott said.

While McDermott might not see another player of Oden’s caliber in the near future, Johnson hopes that by reaching Durant’s mindset, he will be a player teams will be looking at for the first overall pick when his time comes.

“Every kid that plays basketball wants that,” Johnson said. “That’s my goal.”