The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

HE had a promising freshman season cut short due to injury. Now, as the top returning scorer, the Oklahoma Sooners will lean heavily on Buddy Hield to have an expanded role this fall in his sophomore year.

Hield continues his rehabilitation from a broken bone in his foot, suffered in February against TCU, but is on track to play in the Sooners’ season opener, slated for November 8 against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The 6’4” 200-pound guard did not participate in the team’s five game European tour last month. He was held out as a precaution due to what the Sooners coaching staff called a “flare-up” of the previous injury.

Oklahoma finished 4-1 in the five-game tour which stretched across Belgium and France.

Heading into the 2013-14 season, the Sooners lost three of their top scorers from the previous year in NBA draftee Romero Osby, Steven Pledger and Amath M’Baye, leaving Hield as the top returning scorer on the roster.

In the 2012-13 season, he averaged 7.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game to rank fourth, third, second and first on the team respectively.

Hield underwent surgery on February 12 and was initially expected to miss 4-6 weeks. However, he missed just five games and returned to the line-up on March 6 against West Virginia.

Hield entered the game midway through the first half to a standing ovation in Norman, Oklahoma, and multiple signs of support from the crowd, a few which read - “Welcome Back, Buddy” and “Buddy Healed.”

In just his second game back following surgery, Hield came off the bench to finish with 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the Sooners’ 70-67 loss on the road to TCU in the regular season finale.

When the post-season team awards were doled out, Hield was named the recipient of the “Most Inspirational Player” Award.

After beginning the season as a key reserve, Hield worked his way into the starting lineup in mid-December and helped revitalise the Sooners programme into Big 12 contenders. He went on to start 17 of the 27 games he made an appearance in and averaged 25.1 minutes per game.

Hield, the Grand Bahama native and former Jack Hayward Wildcat, scored double figures in seven games last season and finished twice in double figure rebounds. He began the season on a roll, averaging 9.4 points on .415 shooting from the field in the first 19 games of the season, but cooled off late with 4.1 points on .289 field goal shooting in the last eight games of the year.

In just the second game of his NCAA career, Hield set his career high in scoring with 17 in the Sooners’ 63-59 win over the Texas-Arlington Mavericks in November.

Other marquee games included a 16-point, seven rebound, three-assist performance in a win over Texas Tech, and a 15-point, five-assist outing in a win over Oklahoma State.