University of Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield is arguably the best college basketball player in America.

If he were anything less, Virginia Commonwealth University likely would be headed to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 this weekend instead of packing for the offseason.

He’s the “best player I’ve seen in college basketball,” said VCU Coach Will Wade after the Rams’ 85-81 loss to Oklahoma last Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional play.

Making the task tougher, Hield and the Sooners were playing in Oklahoma City, just 20 miles from their campus in Norman, Okla.

A finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year and a likely NBA draft lottery pick, Hield scored 29 of his 36 points in the game’s second half as the Sooners withstood a spirited VCU rally.

The Rams trailed 21-7 early on and 44-31 at the half.

Hield’s 36 points is most ever scored against VCU in a NCAA game. The best previous mark was 31 points, by both La Salle University’s Steve Black in 1983 and Northeastern University’s Reggie Lewis in 1984.

No. 2 seed Oklahoma, 27-7, will face Texas A&M Thursday of the West Region in a Sweet 16 match in Anaheim, Calif.

The No. 10 seed VCU Rams had advanced to the tournament’s second round with an impressive 75-67 victory last Friday over No. 7 Oregon State University.

In Coach Wade’s first season after succeeding Coach Shaka Smart, the Rams were 25-11 and co-Atlantic 10 regular season champs, although they lost the A-10 Tournament title to St. Joseph’s University at the Barclays Center.

The Rams averaged 77.2 points, more than they ever scored during the coaching stints of Coach Smart, Coach Anthony Grant or Coach Jeff Capel III.

Melvin Johnson scored 23 points for VCU in his final game, closing with 1,657 career points, which is the sixth best in school annals. Johnson sank five 3-pointers against Oklahoma to finish with the Rams’ record 285 3-point shots.      

VCU loses seniors Johnson (17.4 point scoring average) and Korey Billbury (11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds) but remains optimistic, as always.

Among the returning Rams is rising star JeQuan Lewis, who had 22 points, nine assists and four rebounds against the Sooners playing a full 40 minutes.

Off the bench, 6-foot-10 sophomore Michael Gilmore had a career high 12 points. The nephew of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore sank two key 3-point shots in the second half, treating the Rams to a temporary lead.    

The seniors in 2016-17 will be Lewis (11.3 point average, 183 assists), Mo Alie-Cox (10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 68 blocked shots), Jordan Burgess (4.9 points, 4.2 rebounds) and Doug Brooks (4.2 points, team best 69 steals).

Joining the roster next season will be two red-shirted freshmen, 6-foot-4 Samir Doughty from Philadelphia and 6-foot-9 New Yorker Jonathan Nwankwo, along with four incoming freshmen.

RamNation is thrilled about the arrival of 6-foot-5 De’Riante Jenkins, a native of Santee, S.C. Jenkins shined this season at Hargrave Military Academy near Danville, where he was selected Most Valuable Player of the National Prep Championship in New Haven, Conn. Hargrave went 47-1 this season.

VCU will be tested early in the Battle4Atlantis in The Bahamas Nov. 23 through 26. Other entries are Michigan State University, University of Louisville, Wichita State University, Baylor University, Louisiana State University, St. John’s University and Old Dominion University.

The Rams’ beat goes on and on despite the annual loss of key components. Success this season came following the departure of two all-time greats, Treveon Graham and Briante Weber, plus Coach Smart and the entire recruiting class.

VCU is among eight universities to have been to six straight NCAA tournaments. The Rams have won at least 24 games for 10 straight years. Only the University of Kansas, the overall top seed in this year’s tournament, can match that.