March Madness begins in earnest tomorrow (join our bracket here!). And between the rush of their own seasons, recruiting, preparation for spring practice and perhaps a general desire to experience life outside of the college sports realm, football coaches can be excused for just now becoming acquainted with college basketball.
But as the tournament starts, one of the names you'll hear repeated over and over is Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield.
A native of the Bahamas, Hield was an unheralded player on a rebuilding program, not someone anywhere near the National Player of the Year radar. Heild averaged 7.8 points a game as a freshman, 16.5 as a sophomore and then 17.44 as a junior, good enough to win the Big 12 Player of the Year award. While most in his position would head directly to the NBA, Hield stayed for his senior season and simply exploded. He dropped 46 points in a triple-overtime classic at Kansas, 32 and a game-winning jumper at LSU, 29 at No. 10 West Virginia and 39 in the Big 12 Tournament against Iowa State.
Hield heads to the NCAA Tournament averaging 25 points a game and on a favorite to win college basketball's myriad National Player of the Year awards.
That's why Hield will capture your eye over the coming weeks. But this quote is why he should capture your heart.
If Hield can wait his turn and watch his scoring average triple, rising from anonymous role player to All-American in the process, everyone can wait their turn.
Hield and the second-seeded Sooners begin their tournament run Friday at 4 p.m. ET against Cal State-Bakersfield.