Drew Buggs exited the art-of-the-state locker room and walked into history.
The Stan Sheriff Center corridor is adorned with murals of Hawaii basketball’s past with plaques commemorating the championship seasons.
“Everything we have today,” said Buggs, the Rainbow Warriors’ starting point guard, “is because of the people before us. We wouldn’t be as blessed or as fortunate without the people before us.”
On Thursday night, several former players, coaches and staff members gathered to toast the ’Bows’ 100th basketball season. The festivities will continue during Saturday’s game against UC Davis. There will be displays of memorabilia throughout the Sheriff Center, with tributes to past players during timeouts and at halftime.
“This has been a year-long celebration,” coach Eran Ganot said. “We have special game events to honor it.”
Ganot, who has a passion for history, marveled at the growth of a program, whose first game was a 14-13 victory over McKinley High in 1912. Through the first two decades, the ’Bows played mostly against high school, military and club teams, with opponents such as
Department Hospital, All Chinese Athletes and Goeas Beauts.
Their first collegiate opponent was Washington, 1938. World War II led to a four-season hiatus in the 1940s. The program was revived for the 1946-47 season, which concluded with eight consecutive games on the mainland.
The ’Bows gained popularity in the 1950s, under head coaches Al Saake and Ah Chew Goo. Home games were played at Bloch Center, at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and a gym on UH-Manoa’s upper campus near where Sinclair Library is now located. Next to the on-campus gym was an open-air “locker room” where teams dressed under the Manoa mist. At halftime, the teams gathered under a stage in the gym.
During that era, a local kid, Willie Lee, was at the end of the bench until summoned at the end of blowout games. The 6-foot-6 Lee developed a sky hook and became one of the ’Bows’ top post players. During that time, Bill Allen also became a prolific scorer after focusing solely on basketball. (Legend has it Allen lost his airport job when a cart he was steering ran into an airplane.)
The program reached the next stage when it hired an island son, Ephraim “Red” Rocha, as head coach in 1963. The Hilo High graduate had a standout career at Oregon State before becoming Hawaii’s first NBA Draft pick. With an injury resulting in a protruding pinkie, one of Rocha’s hands formed a natural shaka sign. It was Rocha who would put together the first great UH team — the Fabulous Five — that earned appearances in the 1971 NIT in New York City and 1972 NCAA Tournament.
After that, the program produced an Olympian (Tom Henderson), two dynamic Carters (Reggie and Anthony), a “Helicopter” (Erin Galloway), a “Real Deal” (Trevor Ruffin), and a player who answered to “Savo.”
After missing two free throws that forced overtime, Predrag Savovic hit six in the extra period to spark a UH victory. Asked how he can turn misses into hits, Savovic said: “I am Savo.” The next game, there were “I am Savo” signs at the four corners of the arena.
Along the way, there was head coach Riley Wallace’s coat-tossing protests; celebrated reserves George Ritter and his fans, “Ritter’s Sitters,” and Luke “Rudy” Meyers; Ruffin’s last-second shot and Tes Whitlock’s ESPY-nominated winner (he called his 3-point shot “Trey-cy”), and the bench squad known as “Hawaii Five-0” that inspired the 2016 NCAA run.
Kawika Hallums was the first to coin UH’s road upset of BYU as being “better than statehood.” Alika Smith said the stunner over then No. 2 Kansas was “better than the invention of the plate lunch.”
“Everything,” Ruffin said of what his UH career meant. “One of of the best experiences of my life, including the NBA.”
Former UH forward Phil Handy, who is now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, has worked with the NBA elite, such as LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.
“Hawaii was a big part of my journey,” Handy said. “It was a great place for me. It was the community and the fans and the teammates. Culturally, it was a big part of me growing up and maturing a little bit.”
