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Bryant Reeves to Be Inducted in Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame

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To many fans, Bryant Reeves holds a special place among Oklahoma State’s great ballplayers. Maybe it was the broken backboard, or the half-court shot against Missouri. Or the historic Final Four run that signified a return to prominence for Oklahoma State basketball. If you’re like me, Reeves was the biggest star of an era that first got you excited about Oklahoma State athletics.

But on Monday night, when “Big Country” is inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, it will not be solely based on fond childhood memories or binge-able YouTube clips. Bryant Reeves was one of the best to ever play at Oklahoma State and he was one of the most dominant big men college basketball has even seen.

Second-year head coach Eddie Sutton signed Reeves out of Gans, Oklahoma as a big-bodied project who most thought was a ways from contributing. Reeves proceeded to start 34 games as a true freshman and was named to the Big 8 all-freshman team after averaging 8.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. And he was just getting started.

Reeves lead the Big 8 in field-goal percentage his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He also posted the No. 1 (797 points) and No. 5 (713 points) highest scoring season in Oklahoma State history before leading the his team to Seattle for 1995 Final Four.

Reeves was taken with the 6th-overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the expansion team Vancouver Grizzlies. He played six seasons for the Grizzlies, averaging 12.5 points, 6.9 rebounds a 0.8 block per game.

Monday night, in a ceremony at Riverwind Showplace Theatre in Norman, Oklahoma, Reeves will be inducted along with Jeff Bennett, Bill Greason, David James, Bill Krisher, Jason White and former Oklahoma State wrestler Doug Blubaugh. Blubaugh won a National Title at Oklahoma State in 1957 and was 1960 Olympic gold medalist.

 

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