NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma retired Buddy Hield’s No. 24 jersey during halftime of a game against Texas A&M Saturday night.
The Freeport, Bahamas, sniper was a unanimous first team Associated Press All-American in 2016, when he led the Sooners to the Final Four as a senior. He averaged 25 points and shot 45.7% from 3-point range that season.
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Two-time Big 12 Player of the Year joined Alvan Adams, Wayman Tisdale. Blake Griffin, Stacey King and Mookie Blaylock as Sooners will have their jerseys retired.
Hield’s family, teammates and coaches from the 2016 team stood behind him as he thanked Oklahoma fans before the banner was raised high at the Lloyd Noble Center. In attendance were then-Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger and current Omaha coach Chris Crutchfield, who helped recruit Hield to Oklahoma as an assistant with the Sooners.
Perhaps Hield’s most memorable game was a loss. He scored 46 points as No. 2 Oklahoma lost a triple-overtime thriller to No. 1 Kansas in 2016. Later that season, he was named the NCAA West Region MVP after scoring 37 points in the Elite Eight win over Oregon.
A year earlier, his tip with less than a second left, they beat Kansas at home in a game between ranked teams.
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Hield, who now plays for the Atlanta Hawks, was the sixth pick in the 2016 draft. He averaged nearly 15 points and shot nearly 40 percent from 3-point range during a 10-year NBA career.
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