COLUMBIA, Mo. — A change of scenery. It’s a common phrase college athletes use to explain their decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
Drew Buggs is no exception.
The junior point guard chose to leave the University of Hawaii, a place with a lot of scenery to leave behind. The sunshine, the beaches, the ocean.
This decision, though, wasn’t about the weather. It wasn’t all about basketball either. Buggs’ junior season tipped off with a broken heart that never truly healed. His mother, Mary — his biggest supporter — died last fall not long after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Basketball is definitely an outlet for me, but it was definitely challenging,” Buggs said Friday after practice at Missouri, his new basketball home. “A lot of times, it didn’t feel the same not getting a text from her before a game. With certain things, just mentally, it was a rough year for me. I struggled with my love for the game at points in time, which is why I felt like maybe a change of scenery was best for me. There wasn’t really any glaring reason why I left Hawaii. I enjoyed my time out there. But I felt maybe a change of scenery and a new environment and a new chance this year to do something special would help that out.”
Buggs left Hawaii as the program’s career assists leader, and with diploma in hand he was eligible to play immediately at his next school as a graduate transfer. Mizzou, coming off a 15-16 season, had scoured the transfer market for experienced perimeter scorers. But when those targets went elsewhere, Buggs stood out as an impact option.
He joins a backcourt crowded with capable ballhandlers in senior Dru Smith and junior Xavier Pinson and gives coach Cuonzo Martin an established playmaker to provide more rotation flexibility. The 6-foot-3 Buggs started 88 of 91 games at Hawaii, set the program’s career assist record midway through last season and averaged steady figures of 8.8 points and 4.8 assists per game over three years.
“Strong, shifty, knows how to pass the ball,” Martin said. “His percentages from 3 weren’t great at Hawaii (28%), but he’s a guy who can make 3s. He’s a guy who’d rather pass the ball and make plays. He forces guys to run because he’s a very willing passer. Unlike X and Dru, scoring is probably second or third on his list.”
Buggs’ identity as a point guard won’t put guardrails on Martin’s options on the floor. He talked all summer about playing Buggs, Smith and Pinson at the same time.
“They’ve been on the floor together (in practice),” he said. “It’s just basketball. It’s spacing, attacking ball screens, sharing the basketball, driving to get in the lane, making sound decisions. I enjoy being around (Buggs) because he does a lot of good things. And he’s a vocal. He talks to his guys. He’s the guy we felt like we recruited.”
“Oh, man, he’s an excellent passer,” sophomore forward Kobe Brown said. “He sees everything… . He just makes things happen. It’s like everyone becomes open when he gets the ball.”
As a high school player in Long Beach, California, Buggs was a mid-major college conference prospect who committed to Hawaii five years ago. Early in his senior season at Long Beach Poly, Buggs broke his leg and suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for most of the season. He redshirted his first year at Hawaii before becoming a regular in the starting lineup.
In August of 2019, Buggs was home visiting family in California when his mother was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Mary Goodman was a standout high school athlete in State Center, Iowa, then attended Iowa State where she met Andrew Buggs, a defensive back on the Cyclones football team.
After college they married and moved to Andrew’s native Southern California, where they raised a family of six. Drew came first, then siblings, Chloe, Lily and Luke. Mary coached soccer, track and basketball at a Long Beach prep school.
A year ago in October, Buggs took a call from his father. Mary’s condition had worsened. He needed to come home before it was too late. He did. She died Oct. 18.
Three weeks later Buggs was back in Hawaii’s starting lineup for the season’s first game. It hurt to play, but he started all 30 games, rarely left the court and by season’s end was voted the team’s most inspirational player.
“I know how much she loved supporting me playing basketball,” Buggs said. “She knew how much basketball meant to me. She was my No. 1 fan. So I knew she wouldn’t want her passing away to affect me on the court or have me not play that year. I just used it as motivation to play every game in her memory and continue to live life as she would want me to, just carry myself the right way.”
After the season, Buggs felt a longing to make a clean start somewhere else. Mary’s family still lives in Iowa. Playing in the Midwest became appealing. Family members could perhaps see some games in person. If not, at least he’d be in the same time zone and they could follow games on TV.
In the spring, Buggs chose Mizzou over several schools, including Iowa State, his parents’ alma mater.
In Martin, Buggs found common ground on multiple fronts. Martin is a cancer survivor and also overcame a severe knee injury in high school.
“We talk about that all the time,” Buggs said. “He’s been a really good mentor for me ever since coming here.”
Once the season begins late this month, Buggs plans to stay true to the pregame ritual that helped him get through last season at Hawaii. He’ll pray before tipoff, talk to Mary and keep in mind others who suffer, too.
“I’ll remind myself that I’m blessed to be able to play the game I love and be in the position that I am,” he said “I’ll go out there and always try to leave it all on the floor, because … you never know.”
Matter writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch