‘It’s always home’: Buddy Hield has high school basketball jersey retired by Sunrise
Exactly one decade after moving to the United States to play basketball for a tiny prep school in Bel Aire, Kansas, Buddy Hield returned to Sunrise Christian Academy on Saturday to have his high school jersey retired.
Hield, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, went on to become the national player of the year at Oklahoma and the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and recently signed a four-year, $94 million contract with the Sacramento Kings in the NBA.
But before all of the fame and money he’s attained while playing basketball, Hield was grateful that a school in America would take a chance on a scrawny kid from the Bahamas.
“If I had to do it all again, I would come back here,” Hield told the full gymnasium, which included friend and NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant.
“Who would have thought 10 years later I’d come back to Sunrise and get my jersey retired. Sounds crazy, but it’s a blessing to be here. This is home. Every time I come, it’s always home.”
Hield is the first player to have his jersey retired at Sunrise, an honor that current Sunrise coach Luke Barnwell says is fitting.
“There’s nobody that embodies what I think Sunrise basketball is about than Buddy,” Barnwell said. “What coach (Kyle) Lindsted started was about maximizing the best version of yourself, while pursuing growth, character and faith. Buddy is all of that. He is so deserving of this and it was a no-brainer for us because it was the right thing to do.”
Hield has broken through to NBA stardom the last two seasons, averaging 20.7 points and making 42.7% of his three-pointers during the 2018-19 season and following that up by averaging 19.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists this past season for the Kings.
But Hield was far from an NBA prospect when he arrived at Sunrise as a high school junior in the fall of 2010.
“Buddy came here as kind of an unknown,” Barnwell said. “He was an unheralded prospect and he says that he wasn’t even the best player on the island when he came here. But he got an opportunity to work on something he always dreamed of and I think he feels strongly that without Sunrise, (his success) wouldn’t have happened. I think when you see him emotional like that, it’s because he’s very grateful to the people who were invested in his life.”
Hield was recruited to Sunrise by Lindsted, who left Sunrise to join Wichita State’s staff as an assistant coach in 2015 and is currently an assistant coach at Minnesota. Lindsted helped turn Sunrise into a national powerhouse on the prep circuit and credits Hield for helping vault the program onto the national scene by being the program’s first superstar recruit.
Lindsted was unable to attend the ceremony in person on Saturday, but did have a video message prepared for Hield.
“It’s really, really hard to come up with a way to describe your work ethic and the energy you bring and you give to others,” Lindsted said. “You’ve catapulted so many other people to great things, my life as well. I’m so grateful for the effort that you’ve given to me and so many others.”
Hield was overcome by emotion watching the video and had to pause several times throughout the ceremony to gather himself.
That’s a genuine reaction, Barnwell said, because Hield has remained closely attached to the program since he left. He’s signed with Nike, as is Sunrise, so he’s able to funnel Nike gear to his former team. Barnwell said he has received texts after games from Hield when watches Sunrise on national television.
Barnwell is even invited out to the Bahamas every summer to help Hield with his basketball camp.
“He genuinely cares about Sunrise,” Barnwell said. “He actually practiced with us on Friday and after practice, he explained to our guys that this word across your chest means something. This is a family and we want you to be successful. He sat with a lot of the guys 1-on-1 and gave them his heartfelt message about what they could get better at. He’s living proof of what hard work can do.”
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