DURANT, Okla. — Kelly Green, the men’s basketball coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, battles relative obscurity by using all the tools at his disposal. Until recently, Green highlighted the campus’ unique geography to sell out-of-state prospects on his NCAA Division II program.

“We’re in the city of Durant,” Green would tell recruits, “like Kevin Durant.”

Green felt much more comfortable using this tangential connection back when Kevin Durant was still playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. But those ties disappeared when Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors in free agency last summer, forcing Green to scrap his pitch.

“When Kevin left, I was like, ‘Well, now what do I say?’” Green said. “He really screwed up my spiel.”

The grief over Durant (the player) is palpable in Durant (the city), a quiet community of about 17,000 residents about 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma City that has, in small ways, paid the price for pure coincidence. One teenager sought retribution by campaigning to change the name of the city to Westbrook, after Russell Westbrook, the Thunder’s star point guard. Basketball players at Durant Middle School hear the occasional barbs from opponents.

But mostly, people here — like many Thunder fans across the state — are sad that Durant left the Thunder.

“Honestly,” said Caleb Heavner, 12, “I cried a little bit.”

Kevin Durant is set to make his return to Oklahoma City this weekend, when the Warriors play the Thunder on Saturday night. Vestiges of Durant remain here in Durant, most notably tucked among bins of merchandise at Hibbett Sports on West Main Street.

Considered the magnolia capital of Oklahoma, Durant — traditionally pronounced DEW-rant rather than DUH-rant — was founded in the early 19th century by Dixon Durant, a prominent businessman, minister and civic leader. (Kevin Durant is not in any way related to Dixon Durant.) The city itself is a fairly tranquil place, complete with tourist attractions.

“You know we have the world’s largest peanut, right?” asked Asia Willingham, a teacher whose husband, Zach, coaches the seventh-grade boys basketball team at Durant Middle School.

But that sense of civic serenity was briefly upended last summer thanks to the handiwork of Ryan Nazari, a 17-year-old high school student from Edmond, Oklahoma. Dismayed by Durant’s decision, Nazari started a petition on Change.org that sought to re-brand the city. Durant would become Westbrook.

“Everyone was just really upset over Durant leaving, especially me,” Nazari said in a telephone interview. “So why not poke some fun and laugh for a change? The petition was really just a joke.”

And then it quickly became popular, collecting almost 3,000 signatures. Nazari’s parents were unaware of their son’s extracurricular project until they heard about it on the local news.

“And my dad was like, ‘What are you doing?’” said Nazari, who plans to study biomechanical engineering in college.

It might be worth noting that Nazari has never actually been to Durant, where most residents seemed to get a kick out of the petition. They are, however, not changing the name of the city.

Nicolas Crouse, a 13-year-old shooting guard at Durant Middle School, has a vested interest in the status quo. His great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, he said, was Dixon Durant.

Like Nazari, Crouse said he was bummed about Kevin Durant. In the dreary aftermath of Durant’s decision, Crouse dug out his Durant replica jersey and resisted the urge to cut it into tiny pieces. Instead, he settled on a more peaceful form of protest: He slapped a strip of masking tape across the name on the back and wrote “Westbrook” on it.

If there are others who cannot help themselves, Crouse does not entertain any fantasies of Durant ever returning to the Thunder. Crouse values loyalty.

“He left,” he said. “And I can understand that. But I don’t really like him anymore.”

Green, the coach at Southeastern, where Dennis Rodman was a star player in the mid-1980s, said he would never blame a professional athlete for pursuing another opportunity. It is a business, after all.

“Players get traded, and coaches get fired,” Green said. “Billy Donovan, he’s doing a great job coaching the Thunder. But one day he’s going to take another job or get fired. And that’s pro sports.”