Buddy Hield, Jay Wright win college basketball's Naismith awards
Buddy Hield’s Oklahoma Sooners were routed by Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats on Saturday in a Final Four game, but both of them picked up some postseason hardware Sunday.
Hield was named the Naismith college basketball player of the year, and Wright won the same award as a coach.
Your 2016 Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year: @buddyhield of @OU_MBBall ! Congrats on a great season Buddy! https://t.co/fjtsH0dkN4
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) April 3, 2016
Congrats to @VUCoachJWright of @NovaMBB being named 2016 Naismith Trophy Men's Coach of the Year! Good luck tmrw! https://t.co/vXCr2gwV2o
— The Naismith Trophy (@NaismithTrophy) April 3, 2016
Hield, a 6-foot-4 senior, averaged 25.0 points and 5.7 rebounds and made 45.7 percent of his 3-pointers on an Oklahoma team that finished the season 29-8 with a 95-51 loss to Villanova.
Jay Wright is headed to his first NCAA championship game.
Wright has the 34-5 Wildcats in Monday night’s NCAA championship game against North Carolina. He has taken one other team to the Final Four, in 2009, and that team lost to the Tar Heels in the semifinal round.