Oscar Robertson congratulates Buddy Hield on being announced as the winner of the 2016 Oscar Robertson Trophy. The announcement took place at a U.S. Basketball Writers Association media conference in Houston on the eve of the NCAA Final Four. (Photo courtesy of Ty Russell Photography.) Read USBWA past president
A portion of the proceeds from
each year's presentation benefits the  Buddy Hield, a 6-4, 214-pound senior guard from Freeport, Bahamas, is the 2016 winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the second winner from Oklahoma, joining Blake Griffin from the 2008-09 season. Hield is the nation's second-leading scorer with a 25.4 average. He is second in career scoring at OU with 2,282 points and first in career three-pointers with 346. In leading the Sooners to their fifth Final Four appearance, Hield is shooting 50.4 percent from the field, including 46.5 percent from three-point range and 88.0 percent from the free-throw line. "Buddy Hield is richly deserving of the Oscar Robertson Trophy," said U.S. Basketball Writers Association President Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports. "Like Oscar himself, he is a complete player... as well as a self-made star from very humble beginnings in the Bahamas who has seized the four-year opportunity college basketball has provided to make himself the best he can be." The Oscar Robertson Trophy, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, is the premier men's college player of the year award. It is also the only such award actually named after a player or a living namesake — in this case, the National Association of Basketball Coaches' "Player of the Century." The trophy is an 18" bronze sculpture created in 2005 by world-renowned St. Louis sculptor Harry Weber on commission from the USBWA and is based on the famous photo of Oscar Robertson rebounding against Kansas State. Weber's bronze sculptures are in the permanent collections of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY and the National Dog Museum, as well as private collections across the U.S. and overseas, and have been featured at the Museum of Fine Arts in Newport, Rhode Island. UCLA has the most Oscar Robertson Trophy winners with nine, followed by Duke University with seven. Kenyon Martin was the first University of Cincinnati player to win the award since The Big O himself last won in 1960. For the complete list of winners since 1959, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. Two permanent display cases, one of Oscar Robertson Trophy winners and one of memorabilia from The Big O's career dating back to Indianapolis Crispus Attucks High School, have been set up in the entrance hall at Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers and site of the 2006 Oscar Robertson Trophy presentation. Larry Bird, president of basketball operations for the Pacers, assisted The Big O in unveiling the display cases. Last update 04/04/2016
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