Hield Named Senior CLASS Award Candidate

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma men's basketball senior guard Buddy Hield was selected as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Tuesday.

Thirty NCAA men's basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were chosen as candidates. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

In 2015, Hield was named to the Big 12 first-team All-Academic squad. The Bahamas native has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll three times, named a Sooner Scholar on five occasions and became the first player in Big 12 history (19 years) to earn first-team all-academic honors, be named player of the year and lead the league in scoring.

In the community, Hield is a staple at local elementary schools, interacting with children through reading circles as well as math, science and computer lab activities.

On the court this season, Hield is averaging 26.1 points (second in the nation), 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 34.2 minutes per game. Hield is one of the 20 candidates who returned to the court this season after receiving All-America honors for their performance a year ago.

Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men's Final Four.

To view Hield's bio, click here. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.