Sooners are finally doing what they should have done a long time ago when it comes to one former player
The Sooners and their fans love Buddy Hield.
The Oklahoma Sooners are predominantly known for their football, softball, and gymnastics programs, which have won multiple National Championships in their respective sports and have even won recently. However, the basketball program has had some really good players.
When OU is set to host the Texas A&M Fighting Aggies on Saturday, Feb. 21, Oklahoma will also retire Buddy Hield’s jersey No. 24. Hield is a former Sooners’ basketball legend, taking OU to the Final Four in 2016, and playing in the NBA today with the Golden State Warriors.
Hield was electric at OU and is honestly one of the best players in OU history. Of course, the national media people talk about guys like Trae Young and Blake Griffin when discussing former OU players, but Hield is right there with them when it comes to collegiate career. His number should have been retired a long time ago.
Oklahoma isn’t a good basketball team right now, as they’re in a bad funk, losing their last five in a row to teams like the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide. Their last loss to South Carolina kind of let everyone know that this team may not have it this year, since SC is a bad team and beat OU by nine points. This year, OU can’t seem to shoot from beyond the arc. They could use a player like Hield once again.
What Hield did for OU and in the NBA
In his senior season, Hield was maybe the best player in college basketball, averaging 25 points per game and shooting near 50% (field goal %)/ 40% (3-point %), and 90% (free throw %), a feat rarely seen in the sport, let alone in college basketball. That, among other things, led to his being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, who later traded him to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins.
His other accomplishments include: Wooden Award winner, Naismith Trophy winner, Oscar Robertson Trophy winner, and Jerry West Award winner in 2016 as National Player of the Year, plus being a Consensus First-Team All-American and winning Big 12 Player of the Year twice, becoming the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer, and setting records for three-pointers made.
Hield is 15th all-time in NBA three pointers made with 2,187. He is ninth among all active players and could possibly end up anywhere sixth-ninth with a few hundred more three pointers made. He could also finish the 2025-26 season in 13th or 12th all-time, as he made 200 threes last season and is at 60 this season.
What Hield did for OU basketball and carried that on into the NBA is special. His number should absolutely be retired, and then not long after that, we could see the assistant GM’s number retired in Trae Young.
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