As Buddy Hield’s game-winning three-point shot dropped through the net last night in Oklahoma’s win over Texas, it became clear who is all but promised to win the Naismith Player of the Year Award, given to the nation’s best player.
Hield scored 21 of his game high 27 points in the second half, including the Sooners’ final 12 points of the game, to stave off the upset bid from Shaka Smart and company, keeping Oklahoma from dropping their second game in a row. The Sooners, though, still sit one-half game back of West Virginia in the Big 12 Standings as of Tuesday morning.
The brilliance of watching Hield play doesn’t just come from his performance in big moments, like last night and a loss at Kansas earlier where he scored 46 points, it comes from the constant improvement that we’ve seen from him over the past several years.
As a freshman, Hield scored just 7.8 points per game, shooting a paltry 39-percent from the field. He’s averaged double-figures ever since, jumping to 16.5 points per game as a sophomore, 17.4 points per game during his junior year–where he earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors–to the ridiculous 25.7 points per game he’s scoring this season.
Of course, he’s also jacked up his efficiency numbers, shooting over 50-percent from the field and three-point line, while hitting above 90-percent from the free throw line.
We’ve seen brilliant performances before in college basketball, so it isn’t that this is new. But think about the brilliance that was Jimmer Fredette, at BYU, and then remember that Hield is outshooting him from the all three spots on the floor, while also dishing out more assists and collecting more rebounds per game than Fredette did. That’s how special this season has been for Hield, and it’s why he’s the runaway favorite for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.
