The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN players received a number of individual accolades in the offseason and now their teams are projected to be among the top ranked teams in NCAA Division I basketball.

The first edition of the 2015-16 USA Today Coaches Poll was released and two Bahamian players - Buddy Hield and Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr - are on squads featured in the top 25.

Hield and the Sooners will enter the season ranked No.8 in the poll. The Sooners are one of five Big 12 teams that appear in the top 25, alongside Kansas (No.5), Iowa State (No. 7), Baylor (No. 21) and West Virginia (No. 23).

Hield, the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, will lead a very experienced team which returns four starters and most of its scoring from last season.

The Sporting News named the Oklahoma Sooners guard as a preseason third team All-American yesterday when it published its list of the top 15 players for the 2015-16 season. He was also named to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West award, givin to the nation’s top scoring guard. Hield averaged 17.4 points a game last season and added 5.4 rebounds a contest, most among Big 12 guards. He also led the league with his 93 three-pointers and ranked sixth in free throw percentage at 82 and ninth in three-point field goal percentage at 36.

Along with Hield, the Sooners will return four players that have started every game for the past two seasons - seniors Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler as well as junior Jordan Woodard.

Oklahoma tips off the 2015-16 campaign with a November 6 home exhibition game against Washburn. The Sooners begin the regular season November 17 on the road against Memphis.

Nairn and the Michigan State Spartans will enter the season ranked at No. 13 in the top 25.

The Spartans’ schedule features five ranked opponents, including two in the top five and another possible opponent also ranked in the top 10. They are one of five Big 10 teams featured in the top 25 alongside Maryland at No. 3, Indiana at No. 15, No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 24 Purdue.

The Big 10 and Big 12 are the leading conferences with five teams each in the top 25.

Michigan State’s first game versus a ranked opponent this season comes on November 17 in the Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago against No. 5 Kansas. The Jayhawks enter the year as MSU’s highest-ranked non-conference opponent.

MSU opens the new campaign on November 13 against Florida Atlantic at the Breslin Center. The Spartans are coming off their nation’s best seventh Final Four appearance in the last 17 years.

Heading into his sophomore season, Nairn Jr is expected to be a leader for the Spartans, both on the court and in the locker room.

Nairn was named as one of a trio of team captains for the upcoming 2015-16 campaign.

Nairn averaged 2.2 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds in just over 19 minutes per game for the Spartans in his freshman season. He shot 32 per cent from the field, 30 per cent from three-point range and 54 per cent from the line while attempting just 2.3 shots per game.

Heralded for his leadership since he joined the Spartans in East Lansing, Nairn was recognised for those attributes when the team hosted its 2015 awards banquet.

He collected the Stephen G Scofes Inspirational Player Award, shared the Antonio Smith Glue and Guts Award with Denzel Valentine and shared the John E Benington Best Defensive Player Award with Brandon Dawson.

According to the publication, “the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools. The panel is chosen in consultation with the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The members represent each of the 32 Division I conferences that receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.”