honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 23, 2005

It's time for 'D-Low' to step up

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

PULLMAN, Wash. — The leaves have begun to turn yellow and red here on Washington's wind-swept eastern border with Idaho and there is a sudden coolness to the air certifying the arrival of autumn.

For Hawai'i-bred Derrick Low, that means the T-shirt, shorts and slippers he is wearing this day will soon be consigned to the closet in favor of shoes, long pants and a jacket in a place where snow is not unknown in October.

But weather and wardrobe are hardly the biggest changes confronting Low as he prepares for his sophomore season of basketball at Washington State.

The quiet, easy-going, respectful freshman Cougar teammates came to know as "D-Low" is undergoing a metamorphosis, too. Low is being asked, if not regularly prodded, by coaches and teammates alike, to once again become an aggressive, vocal, take-charge floor leader.

All things that he exhibited at Iolani as a three-time state player of the year but packed away upon arrival in the Pac-10, where, as a freshman, his assertiveness took a backseat to low-decibel humility.

So much so that when Low loudly and uncharacteristically confronted a teammate who was lagging in workouts two weeks ago, other players say a cheer nearly went up on the floor.

"When he (Low) got into it, you could see everybody kind of sit up and smile," recalled center Robbie Cowgill. "It was like, 'yeah, D-Low is going now and that's the D-Low we need him to be this season.'"

While some of his teammates and roommates are squeamish on following his culinary tastes, particularly Spam musubi — "sorry, but I'm not eating anything with seaweed wrapped around it," Cowgill said — the basketball court is another thing entirely.

On a team nearly bereft of upperclassmen, Low, the point guard, is where the Cougars have come to look for inspiration and leadership. Not only on offense with the departure of the team's top scorers, but on defense, where he can set the stage on head coach Dick Bennett's demanding defense, and in practice and conditioning.

"Last year, when we were all freshman, he deferred to the seniors we had," said Cowgill, a roommate. "That's one of the things that people liked about him right away. But now that there is only one (senior) and six of us are back (as sophomores), we need him to play a different role. I think he can do it and I think he wants to do it, but it kind of goes against his nature a little bit."

Yet if there is anyone on the roster who should be up to the task, it would seem to be Low. Few players in WSU history have gotten more playing time, 22 starts and an average of 32 minutes a game, as a freshman. And, there would have been more if not for a foot fracture that cost him the first five games of the season.

His seven points a game are the most among returnees and his 4-for-4 3-point shooting performance in the upset at No. 11 Arizona, and eight assists against Southern California were glimpses of what teammates and coaches are looking for this year.

"We — all the guys who are now sophomores — came in here together so I feel comfortable that I can talk to them and communicate with them, both on and off the court, especially on the court, which has been my problem," Low said. "I think they respect me enough to listen to what I have to say and follow my lead if I keep working at it."

When Low was recruited to WSU in the first group of signees by the new coaching staff, the pitch was that one day the Cougars would be his team to lead. For Low, that day has come with the arriving autumn.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.