TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
http://newsok.com/article/3453123
Amric Fields, Putnam City West. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
[SIZE=14pt]Oklahoman Super Five: Putnam City West's Amric Fields ready to bulk up [/SIZE]
BY SCOTT WRIGHT, Staff Writer, swright@opubco.com
The doubters were out early in Amric Fields' career, saying he'd never be an NCAA Division I basketball recruit.
But the criticism was never directed at his skill, but his size.
"When I was younger, people would say, 'Oh, he won't go D-I. He's too skinny to be a post man,'" the Putnam City West standout recalled. "I just accepted it. Then I learned to shoot a little bit, step out and hit 3s, and it expanded my game."
Fields knows at 6-foot-9, he's still awfully skinny for big-time college basketball, so once he reports to TCU for summer school in a few months, he plans to head straight for the weight room.
"I'm kinda slender," he said with a chuckle. "Hitting the weights will be a big factor for me."
He also wants to improve his footwork, because there's the possibility he'll get some playing time on the wing for the Horned Frogs, which means he could end up defending guards who are smaller and quicker.
Fields averaged 19.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as he and Tyler Neal led the Patriots back to the state tournament for the first time since 1977 and the second time in school history.
And Fields got a taste of what it would be like as the solo star when Neal missed the final three games of the regular season with an ankle injury.
Fields averaged 27 points a game during that stretch, making one wonder what kind of numbers either of the two would have been capable of without the other.
"Sometimes I think about that," Fields said. "Obviously, we would've scored a little more. When you've got someone on the team that can score just as well as you, you're not gonna have great numbers. We both averaged close to 20, but we both can do the same things."
The one thing Fields and Neal couldn't do was win a state championship.
"That was tough," Fields said. "It's your senior year. You want to end it with a win. There's no better way to end it than with a gold ball, but sometimes it doesn't happen. You've just got to look toward the future and get ready for college."
Amric Fields, Putnam City West. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
[SIZE=14pt]Oklahoman Super Five: Putnam City West's Amric Fields ready to bulk up [/SIZE]
BY SCOTT WRIGHT, Staff Writer, swright@opubco.com
The doubters were out early in Amric Fields' career, saying he'd never be an NCAA Division I basketball recruit.
But the criticism was never directed at his skill, but his size.
"When I was younger, people would say, 'Oh, he won't go D-I. He's too skinny to be a post man,'" the Putnam City West standout recalled. "I just accepted it. Then I learned to shoot a little bit, step out and hit 3s, and it expanded my game."
Fields knows at 6-foot-9, he's still awfully skinny for big-time college basketball, so once he reports to TCU for summer school in a few months, he plans to head straight for the weight room.
"I'm kinda slender," he said with a chuckle. "Hitting the weights will be a big factor for me."
He also wants to improve his footwork, because there's the possibility he'll get some playing time on the wing for the Horned Frogs, which means he could end up defending guards who are smaller and quicker.
Fields averaged 19.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as he and Tyler Neal led the Patriots back to the state tournament for the first time since 1977 and the second time in school history.
And Fields got a taste of what it would be like as the solo star when Neal missed the final three games of the regular season with an ankle injury.
Fields averaged 27 points a game during that stretch, making one wonder what kind of numbers either of the two would have been capable of without the other.
"Sometimes I think about that," Fields said. "Obviously, we would've scored a little more. When you've got someone on the team that can score just as well as you, you're not gonna have great numbers. We both averaged close to 20, but we both can do the same things."
The one thing Fields and Neal couldn't do was win a state championship.
"That was tough," Fields said. "It's your senior year. You want to end it with a win. There's no better way to end it than with a gold ball, but sometimes it doesn't happen. You've just got to look toward the future and get ready for college."
