The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A STANDOUT senior season for Buddy Hield has the former Oklahoma Sooner and current New Orleans Pelican guard in contention for another award.

Hield was named one of five ESPY nominees for the Best Male College Athlete award. He is one of five nominees for the award category, including Derrick Henry of Alabama (football), Jarrion Lawson of Arkansas (track and field), Jordan Morris of Stanford (soccer) and Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State (wrestling).

Hield’s star-studded senior season for the Sooners concluded with a litany of awards, including the John R Wooden, Naismith and Oscar Robertson Player of the Year trophies.

He was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches first-team, 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 also includes the Sporting News Player of the Year, USBWA District VI Player of the Year, CBS Sports Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year and the All-Big 12 first-team.

Hield could have left Oklahoma after his junior season as a potential first-round pick, but he returned to school for his senior season. It turned out to be a wise decision, as he had a career year, averaging 25.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 50.1 per cent overall and 45.7 per cent from three-point range. He went on to be selected No.6 overall to the New Orleans Pelicans in this year’s NBA Draft.

The 2016 ESPYS will be hosted by John Cena on Wednesday, July 13, at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Interested fans can vote for Hield at http://espn.go.com/espys/2016/ before voting ends at 8pm on July 13.

This is the second time the Bahamas has been associated with winning a possible ESPY award.

The improbable finish of the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl in which Central Michigan scored a 75-yard, three-lateral touchdown as time expired has advanced to the Finals for the 2015 ESPY Best Play award.

CMU’s touchdown, the No. 2 seed in the 16-play bracket, received 60 per cent of the online vote to defeat No. 7 seed Tyler Ennis of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres in the Round of 8 to move on to the final fan vote.

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr won the ESPY Award for play of the year for his catch against the Dallas Cowboys.

The ESPYs were created by ESPN as an accolade to recognise individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony.

The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993.