Following the announcement of Buddy's Hield's decision to return to Oklahoma for his senior season, the native of Grand Bahama has seen his NBA draft stock improve considerably over the past several months. Prior to this year's draft, Hield was projected as an early second round pick, or a late first round pick at best. This month, reputed mock draft site www.nbadraft.net projects Hield as a mid first round pick at number 18 in its latest 2016 Mock Draft release.
This summer, he significantly improved his stock with breakout performances at both the Nike Skills Academy and at Adidas Nations. At one point, he was projected at as the number 12 pick on a number of sites. Also this summer, the 6'4" wingman hosted his first basketball camp in the Eight Mile Rock area. "You have to be smart," Hield said. "You can't go in there and take a gamble and bury yourself. I knew the best decision was to come back and improve. That way when the time comes, I'll be ready."
Last season, he averaged 17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting 41 percent from the field. Coming off his most productive season as a collegiate player, many assumed that Hield would make the leap to the big leagues. He said that he thought long and hard about going pro, but after consulting with family, friends and coaches, he decided that returning would be the best choice.
Hield will graduate with his degree in human relations at the end of next semester. The senior guard scored in double figures in 32 of 35 games on the year, including 28 of the final 29, leading the Sooners to a 24-11 record and a trip to the "Sweet 16." The Sooners will lose just two players that played in the Sweet 16 game and will welcome an incoming recruiting class, which features four star recruit Akolda Manyang.
"I feel like the best is yet to come with this team," Hield said. "My main goal is to go to the Final Four. Why not go there? It's my last year. Be the best player that I can be and help this program go forward."
Some of the main knocks against Hield during this summer's draft period was that he needed to improve his ball handling and his ability to create off the dribble. "It's kind of embarrassing for me, because I'm always in the gym, but I never really work on my ball handling. I always work on my shooting. I need to accept the challenge and work on things I need to get better at. I'm ready to make that next jump in my game," he said, "I'm a scorer at heart. I love to score the ball. Being a two guard, most two guards know how to handle the ball really well to get them their shots. I like the challenge. I want to get better." Hield already ranks fifth in OU history with his 202 career 3-pointers and 15th with his 1,366 points. His 183 treys over the last two seasons represent a two-year school record.
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