Here is a cold fact about Hawaii point guard Drew Buggs: His Twitter handle is “Stone Cold Drew” because of his basketball handles.
Another fact: At the two-thirds point of his junior season as a ’Bow, he has surpassed Troy Bowe as the program’s career leader with 413 assists.
“It’s an honor to play with the best passer in UH history,” power forward Zigmars Raimo said.
Asked about the record, Buggs delivered another assist, noting, “It’s a direct result of the team. I’m just doing my job and getting guys open shots. They’re doing a great job knocking them down.”
While Buggs has 20/20 vision, it was the UH coaches who had the foresight to view a former prep football player as a future college point guard. At Long Beach Poly, Buggs played in a motion offense that only occasionally gave him choreographer duties.
“He played some (point), but maybe he wasn’t a pure point guard in some people’s mind,” UH head coach Eran Ganot said. “We’ve coached so many great point guards, and there are so many different qualities. But the one thing that was consistent was an ability to lead a team and lead a huddle. … We started watching him when he was a junior. To see him lead huddles, that was impressive. We recruited him as a point guard.”
Buggs committed to UH during his senior year at Poly, when he attended all of UH’s road games in Southern California during the 2015-16 season, including the Big West tournament. He redshirted as a UH freshman the ensuing season while recovering from an ACL injury. But it was during practices when Raimo noticed Buggs’ skills and hard work.
“He’s always studying the game,” Raimo said. “He’s a great passer. The way he can dribble, the way he can see the court, it’s just fun to play with him.”
Buggs’ ball-handling comes from years of drills. His seemingly no-look passes are really sly glances. “My dad always taught me to use my peripheral vision,” he said. “If you can see things out of the corner of your eye, it’ll help. You can see defenses, and not everybody will know where you’re going.”
He also has mastered weaving into traffic. Ganot marveled the first time he saw Buggs “playing slow in the paint” as a high school junior, and “then his ability to manipulate defenses to get the looks he wanted.”
Buggs said: “I feel I’ve always had a good feel for the game. I’ve always felt I could be someone who could affect the game in many different aspects. I feel that’s what a point guard is.”
At the most basic, Buggs is an accurate passer. He credited his experience as a youth quarterback.
“I learned about timing,” Buggs said. “Playing quarterback, you learn about hitting them in stride. I took that to the basketball court. I hit them when they’re ready to make shots or when they’re in stride for a shot. I watch a lot of film to know my reads, and who’s going to be open, and where guys like to catch the ball, and where they’re comfortable.”
Of all his passes — the outlets to Raimo, the deep ones to Eddie Stansberry or Justin Webster, the slips to the post — his favorite was against Mississippi Valley State last season.
“I had the Euro-step to the behind-the-back pass,” Buggs said, smiling. “That was my all-time favorite. … I made the Euro-step because I had my defender beat. I was going to lay it up. The help came over, and I saw Zigmars. I gave it to him from behind-the-back.”
Raimo made the easy basket. “We were super hyped about that pass,” Raimo said. “It was a nice pass. Everybody was on their feet. It was a great moment.”
BIG WEST BASKETBALL
At Stan Sheriff Center
>> Who: Hawai’i (14-8, 5-3 Big West) vs. Long Beach State (7-17, 2-6 Big West)
>> When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM / 92.7 FM
