Not a bad week for Texas assistant coach Russell Springmann.

It exactly began a week ago when his wife, Neissa, gave birth to their first child – aptly named Durant – and continued as the Longhorns crushed Texas A&M and then went on the road and ended Kansas’ 69-game home winning streak.

``It’s been unreal,” Springmann said.

Springmann was watching his most famous recruit, Kevin Durant, play with the Oklahoma City Thunder one day shortly after his wife was pregnant.

``I said I really like the name Durant,” Springmann said. ``And she jumped on board and never got off.”

But Springmann, who was the one who recruited Durant to Texas, wanted to make sure he cleared it through the proper channels first.

He called Durant’s parents and then made sure Kevin was alright with it, also.

``They were cool with it,” Springmann said. ``And so was Kevin.”

``We figured we couldn’t name our son after anyone better,” he added. ``Kevin’s everything we’d want our son to be.”

Of course, Springmann is talking about off the court. His son was seven pounds and 19 inches when his wife delivered him last Sunday.

``My guess is Kevin was a lot longer when he was born,” Spirngmann joked.

Springmann’s week to remember continued with a 21-point rout over Texas A&M on Wednesday night and he was responsible for the scout in the shocking victory in Lawrence yesterday against Kansas.

Springmann said that one of the keys to the success of the Longhorns this season has been the maturity of sophomores J’Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton – who combined for 40 points on Saturday.

``They’ve come a long way,” Springmann said. ``And it’s made a huge difference in our team.”

Springmann said everyone has done a terrific job accepting their roles, the chemistry has been terrific – and much of that falls on the veterans (Dogus Balbay, Gary Johnson, Matt Hill) as well as the highly touted freshman (Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson).

``Those two are unbelievable kids,” Springmann said. ``They are extremely coachable, are gym rats and just want to win.”