Warrior Insider

Entering a season of unknowns for the University of Hawai’i basketball team, it is probably fitting that the playing status of Drew Buggs remains to be seen.

Buggs, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Long Beach, Calif., underwent surgery six months ago to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in his right knee. His practice time with the Warriors has been limited, but he has been making up for it with grueling rehabilitation sessions.

“Recovering pretty well, I’m on schedule,” he said of his injury. “Me and (trainer) Jay Goo just been in rehab every day, getting extra work in the weightroom, extra work in whatever I can to work on my range of motion and strength to get back on the court as soon as possible.”

Although Buggs is limited to non-contact drills in practices for now, he has been sure to listen, observe and absorb all of the plays being run by his teammates.

“There’s a lot of new guys, so we’re just getting our chemistry down – learning how each other plays, learning how to play off each other, “ he said. “The coaches switch up the lineups every day in practice so that everybody gets to learn how to play with different guys.”

It should probably be no surprise that Buggs has future aspirations of becoming a coach, and he is already planning on majoring in secondary education.

Buggs said the idea of using a redshirt season has been discussed, but nothing has been decided. He said much will depend on the progress of his knee.

“Just taking it one day at a time, focusing on getting healthy first,” he said.