The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BUDDY Hield continues to rewrite the history books for the Oklahoma Sooners and set new milestones for Bahamian basketball.

Hield’s storybook senior season notched another award when he was named the Big 12 Player of the Year yesterday. He is just the second player in the history of the conference to win the award consecutively following Kansas’ Raef LaFrentz in the 1996-97 and ‘97-’98 seasons.

“This award is humbling and means a lot,” Hield said to the Sooners’ Communications Department. “It’s a reflection of the hard work I’ve put in during my time at OU and how much my teammates and coaches have pushed me to improve each and every day.

“My teammates are always encouraging me through the good days and the bad ones. We all work so hard and I never want to ever let them down. This award is not just for me, it’s for my teammates and coaches as well.”

Hield set career highs across the board following his much debated decision to return to Oklahoma for his senior season rather than enter the NBA Draft last June.

Hield finished the season as the conference’s scoring leader at 25.1 points and 4.1 made three-pointers per game. He was the league’s leading rebounder among guards at 5.5 per game. Hield shot 49 per cent from the field, 47 per cent from three and 89 per cent from the free throw line.

Comparatively, when he also took the top honour in the conference as a junior, he averaged 17.4 points per game on 41 per cent shooting, 36 per cent three-point shooting on 2.66 made threes per game.

The accolades continued as the Grand Bahama native was also named to the All-Big 12 first team and Academic All-Big 12 team for the second consecutive year. Additionally, he was named to the list of 15 finalists for the John R Wooden award doled out to the national player of the year.

Hield and the Sooners closed out the regular season Saturday with a 75-67 win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

It brought his career point total to 2,120 - fourth all time in Sooners’ history and fifth in Big 12 history. It was also his 22nd game of the season with 20 or more points. He finished with 124 three pointers on the season which set a new conference single season record, was the most in Big 12 history and led the NCAA this season.