Being one of the top college basketball players on a Final Four team comes with a certain amount of pressure, and everyone handles that in a different way. For Oklahoma star Buddy Hield, having his mother close by was important to keep him focused, so she moved in with him in January.
“She’s helped me with the process, and helped keep my mind at ease,” Hield said this week when asked about his mother moving in. “That’s helped me to stay focused. She is always telling me if it wasn’t for God I wouldn’t be here today.”
Moms tend to do anything for their sons, and Jackie Swann (Hield’s mother) was willing to make the move from the Bahamas to Norman in order to help her son. But there is a bit of a unique twist on this story, as room is scarce in the college living quarters of the Oklahoma senior. For starters, Hield has been kicked out of his own bed.
“My mom, she sleeps in my bed,” Hield said. “Sometimes I sleep with her and sometimes I don’t. I sleep on the couch or on the floor.”
Whatever the sleeping arrangements are, they seem to be working. Hield has become one of the top players in the nation and has helped fuel Oklahoma to the Final Four, which will be played this weekend in Houston. Oklahoma faces Villanova on Saturday for a chance to play for the national championship on Monday night. After that, Hield will be heading off to the NBA, where he could easily be among the top draft picks selected. That should mean he willl not have t be spending many more nights sleeping on the couch or on the floor, even if his mother is living with him.
