Oklahoma State's prolific guard Marcus Smart is pro-ready, according to Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant. Not that anyone really doubted Smart's pro prospects, especially after Tuesday night's 39 point explosion; he was projected to land in at least the top ten of last year's before withdrawing his name.

"Marcus can play in the league right now. Definitely," said Durant, who attended Tuesday night's game at Gallagher-Iba Arena, ESPN reported.

Already the game of the night during a slow evening for college hoops, the event took on even greater significance with Durant's appearance. Rare are opportunities for professional stars to publicly support college teams in their own state. Even rarer is the situation in Oklahoma, where the biggest name (who also happens to be one of the best players in the league and played his college ball in the same region) from the state's only professional sports team was able to watch one of the state's biggest universities and its brightest star.

Smart understood the importance of the moment.

"We saw Kevin Durant, and we just wanted to go out there and put on a show," he said.

"He was just unbelievable for them tonight," Durant told USA Today Sports. "He was doing it all for them, rebounding, blocking shots, passing, scoring. He led them. I knew he could do everything pretty well. But I like his demeanor. I like how he handles his teammates. A player like him, he always can burst out and get 30 or 40 points."

Durant, who left to the pros after one record-breaking season at Texas, praised Smart's decision to return for his sophomore year.

"And the extra year will help him out as far as knowing the game more. I wish him good luck," Durant said.

Smart not only excelled in front of KD, a national audience, and his home crowd, but a host of NBA scouts, according to ESPN. Currently, nbadraft.net positions him at #6. Critics of his game have questioned his low shooting percentage from last season (40 percent, including 29 percent from three), but they couldn't say much on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-4 guard hit 11 of 21 field goals (5-10 from three).

"When [Smart] scores like that, he could be the best player in college basketball," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said.