Hield, Simmons, Mack win men's honors

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Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, LSU's Ben Simmons and Xavier coach Chris Mack won the USBWA's highest honors this season.

The charismatic Hield, a native of the Bahamas and a two-time Big 12 Conference player of the year, averaged 25.0 ppg, which was second nationally. Hield caught the nation's attention with a 46-point game in a triple overtime loss at Kansas.

"Buddy Hield is richly deserving of the Oscar Robertson Trophy. He is a thrilling shooter and scorer who has led his team to the pinnacle of college basketball success, the Final Four," said USBWA President Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports. "Like Oscar himself, he also is a complete player capable of filling the stat sheet in a number of categories. But most importantly, Buddy is 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 sport is better because of Buddy."

Simmons, a 6-10 forward from Australia, led all freshmen in rebounds with an 11.8 average and was third among all freshmen in scoring with a 19.8 mark. He ranked fifth nationally among all players with 22 double-doubles and shot 56.0 percent from the field.

Simmons was also named to the USBWA's All- Freshman team, along with Jaylen Brown of California, Henry Ellenson of Marquette, Brandon Ingram of Duke and Jamal Murray of Kentucky.

Mack's Musketeers were unranked in preseason Top 25 polls but climbed to No. 5 entering the postseason.

Hield and Michigan State's Denzel Valentine, who was Hield's top challenger as player of the year, headline the USBWA All-America team.

Men's First Team
G Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia (6-5, Sr.)
G Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (6-4, Sr.)
F Brice Johnson, North Carolina (6-10, Sr.)
F Ben Simmons, LSU (6-10, Fr.)
G Denzel Valentine, Michigan State (6-5, Sr.)

Men's Second Team
G Kris Dunn, Providence (6-4, Jr.)
F Georges Niang, Iowa State (6-8, Sr.)
F Jakob Poeltl, Utah (7-0, So.)
G Tyler Ulis, Kentucky (5-9, So.)
F Jarrod Uthoff, Iowa (6-9, Sr.)