ST. LOUIS (USBWA) For the second time in three weeks, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected the Oklahioma guard Buddy Hield as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 10. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
As the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, Hield was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week. This is the seventh season that the USBWA has selected a national player of the week.
Hield, a 6-4 senior from Freeport, Bamahas, averaged an astounding 38.5 points in two games last week to go along with 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He shot a sizzling 64.9 percent from the field, including 60.9 percent from 3-point range.
Heild started the week with one of the best games in Big 12 history, finishing with 46 points, eight rebounds and seven assists at Kansas the second-highest scoring effort in conference history and the most for an OU player since the 1990-91 season. It tied for the most points by a Division I player this year and marked just the 19th time in the last 20 years that anyone had finished with at least 45 points and five assists in a game. He then posted 31 points in 32 minutes in a win over Kansas State and has scored at least 20 points in eight straight games and now boasts six 30-point outputs in 2015-16.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation's oldest award and the only one named after a former player.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy will be presented at the College Basketball Awards on April 11, 2016, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually following the NCAA Men's Final Four.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 35th season. Blue Ribbon long-known as "The Bible of College Basketball" · gives its readers the most thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country. For more information about Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit
blueribbonyearbookonline.com.
2015-16 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
Week ending Dec. 13: Javan Felix, Texas (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Dec. 20: Kay Felder, Oakland (Horizon League)
· Week ending Dec. 27: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 3: Kris Dunn, Providence (Big East Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 10: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 17: Jack Gibbs, Davidson (Atlantic 10 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 24: Jakob Poeltl, Utah (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Jan. 31: Dillon Brooks, Oregon (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 7: Ryan Anderson, Arizona (Pac-12 Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 14: Austin McBroom, Eastern Washington (Big Sky Conference)
· Week ending Feb. 21: Johnathan Motley, Baylor (Big 12 Conference)