Buddy Hield Wins Out in Battle for Top Basketball Awards

Buddy Hield could not lead the Oklahoma Sooners to the national championship, but he was successful in delivering OU its second National Player of the Year Award – and twice over.

On Friday night in Los Angeles, the Sooners’ consensus All-American, who earned the respect and affection of college basketball fans nationwide this past season with his infectious personality and, of course, all those raining three-point bombs, was named the winner of the prestigious John R. Wooden Award as college basketball’s best player this past season.

There was wide speculation all season that Hield would walk away with college basketball two most prized individual honors – the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award – but when Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine was named by the Associated Press as the 2016 College Player of the Year, some questioned if there was going to be a difference of opinion when the Naismith and Wooden selections were revealed.

The events of the past week confirmed what Oklahoma fans long considered a slam dunk. Granted, there were multiple very good players this season in a year in which the parity in college basketball was more pronounced than perhaps any other season in recent memory. But let’s get real: there was only one truly great player and that player was OU’s Buddy Hield.

The growth and development of the Sooner superstar served as a case study in what you can achieve if you work really hard, have the passion and determination to stick with it and keep getting better and go about it with a selfless attitude and increasing confidence.

We all know from experience that effort does not necessarily equate with outcome, but in Buddy’s case, the painstaking repetition and perseverance on the practice court has clearly fueled the precision and proficiency that not only has made him the best of the best in the college game, but also one of the most exciting and incredibly explosive players to watch this season.

Many folks refer to Hield, in his final season as an amateur player, as college basketball’s version of the NBA’s Stephen Curry –  a sharpshooter with no conscience who can take over a game and make it all seem like beautiful music.

Hield is one of a vanishing breed in the college game today: an outstanding player who stays all four years and benefits from the growth and development and the experienced gained over a full college career. He could have left school after an outstanding junior season, one in which he was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, but after careful consideration and serious conversations with coach Lon Kruger, he elected to bypass the NBA for a year and return to OU for one final season and another year of growth.

Had he declared for the NBA after last season, Hield unquestionably would have been selected in the NBA Draft, but it probably would not have been until late in the first round or perhaps even the second. His performance this past season, however, has easily advanced his draft stock into what many experts project as a top-five pick.

Hield is Oklahoma’s second Wooden Award winner in the past seven seasons. Blake Griffin won the award in 2009, and, like Hield, also was named the Naismith Trophy winner the same season.

In addition to winning the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy, Hield also was honored this week as the recipient of the Oscar Robertson Award as well as the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year.

Thanks, Buddy, for an outstanding college career and all the great memories!