OU Trio Named Academic All-Big 12

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma men's basketball players Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and James Fraschilla were each named to the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Team on Wednesday, the conference office announced.

The Academic All-Big 12 honors were the first for all three Sooners. Hield and Spangler were named to the 19-player first team (includes student-athletes who have recorded a 3.20 or better GPA), while Fraschilla was one of 13 players named to the second team (3.00 to 3.19 GPA).

Hield, a leading candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, is a human relations major from Freeport, Bahamas. The junior guard is the Big 12's leading scorer at 16.9 points per game on the season (league-high 17.9 ppg in conference play) and paces the Big 12 with his 2.7 3-pointers per game. In Big 12 play, he also ranks fifth in steals (1.7 spg), eighth in field goal percentage (.449), eighth in free throw percentage (.786) and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.376). Hield has led OU in scoring in eight of 15 conference games.

Also a junior, Spangler is a management major from Bridge Creek, Okla. The forward, who is in his second year playing for the Sooners after transferring from Gonzaga, is averaging 10.4 points a game while ranking third in the Big 12 with his 7.9 rebounds a contest. Spangler leads the league by shooting .589 from the field and is tied for second with seven double-doubles.

Fraschilla, in his final year as a Sooner, is a communication major from Dallas. The guard has played a total of 13 minutes in seven games this season and has a pair of assists to his credit. Fraschilla, who served as the 2013-14 president of the OU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, has played in 27 career games.

To qualify for the all-academic team, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher (either cumulative or over the two previous semesters) and have participated in 60 percent of his team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

The 16th-ranked Sooners, who are 19-8 overall and 10-5 in Big 12 play, host TCU on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. OU is in third place in the Big 12, one game behind first-place Kansas with three games remaining.