The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE postseason accolades have begun to roll in for Bahamian basketball players at the NCAA Division I level.

Buddy Hield, Jonquel Jones and Lashann Higgs have each been recognised thus far, either for season long efforts or their performances in postseason tournaments.

As expected, Hield leads the list with his latest honour, being named to the  National Association of Basketball Coaches first-team.

The senior guard for the Oklahoma Sooners was also named a first-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Sports Illustrated and USA Today. His list of honours thus far on the year include the Sporting News Player of the Year, USBWA District VI Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year and the All-Big 12 first-team.

Hield is also a finalist for a number of awards yet to be doled out including, one of 15 on the John R Wooden Award final ballot, 11 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and five finalists for the Naismith Trophy.

He ranks second in the NCAA in scoring at 25.4 points per game, led Big 12 guards in rebounding at 5.7 per game while shooting 50 per cent from the field and 47 per cent from three-point range.

The Sooners’ attention will now shift to Houston Texas for the Final Four. They will face the No.2 seed and South Region Champions, Villanova Wildcats.

The Sooners (29-7) and Wildcats (33-5) will face off Saturday, April 2 at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas at 6pm local time. The Wildcats are favoured by two points in the game which will be broadcast live on TBS.

Jones was named an honourable mention All-American by the Associated Press for the second consecutive year.

The George Washington Colonials forward has also been selected as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and similar to Hield, has been named to watch lists for a number of national player of the year awards, including the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.

Jones concluded her collegiate career averaging a double double for the third consecutive season with 16.2 points and 14.6 rebounds per game. She also averaged 3.3 blocks per game.

Higgs saw her run in the NCAA tournament come to an end this weekend but was named one of the top players in the Bridgeport Region when she was named to the All-Regional team.

In four NCAA Tournament games the freshman guard averaged 11.5 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Higgs finished with a career high 19 points in the Longhorns’ 86-65 loss to the undefeated UConn Huskies in the Bridgeport Regional Semi-final at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Monday night.

She also added four rebounds and two steals.