The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS he gets set to begin his professional career in earnest, Buddy Hield continues to reap rewards for his record-breaking collegiate season.

The former Oklahoma Sooners and current New Orleans Pelicans guard won the ESPY Award for “Best Male College Athlete” last night in the show hosted at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Hield beat out four other nominees in the 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 also included 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.

Hield was unable to attend the show, hosted by WWE superstar John Cena, due to his participation in the Samsung NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.

His New Orleans Pelicans will play their final game in the tournament today.

Through four Summer League games, Hield has averaged 18.3 points per game, but also shot just 34 per cent from the field and 24 per cent from three-point range.

“I’m not worried about it. I’ll use the Summer League as motivation to keep myself humble and show you’re not good enough yet to play in this league,” Hield said following the Pelicans’ first round tournament loss to the Miami Heat. “I just got to keep working and I’ve been working so hard and I probably won’t take any time off because I’ve got to catch up.”

This was 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.