Mizzou's new grad transfer commit details decision
As former Hawaii guard Drew Buggs weighed his options, searching for a new school to call home, he kept running into people with ties to Missouri. Former players Negus Webster-Chan, who played his first two seasons at Missouri before transferring to Hawaii, and Keith Shamburber, who made the inverse move and joined the Tiger roster as a graduate transfer in 2014-15, played at Hawaii before Buggs arrived in Honolulu, but both reached out to Buggs about the program. Then there was Wesley Stokes and Travon Bryant, both of whom hail from Buggs’ home town of Long Beach, California and played at Missouri in the early 2000s.
Buggs said those past players, particularly Webster-Chan and Shamburger, helped him realize that Missouri “checked all the boxes” he was looking for in a new team. Buggs announced his commitment to Missouri on Sunday. An immediately-eligible graduate transfer, Buggs fills the last remaining open scholarship for next season, assuming the three players who have declared for the NBA Draft each return to school.
“Just my relationship with coach Cuonzo (Martin) and the staff.” Buggs said when asked what drew him to Missouri, “and just somewhere I felt comfortable.”
Buggs entered his name into the transfer portal in March after playing three seasons at Hawaii. He wasn’t able to receive visits from coaches or visit the interested schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he said he heard from Martin and assistant coach Cornell Mann almost every day. Ultimately, he was drawn by the ability to play in the SEC and join a roster that he believes has the pieces to make a run to the NCAA Tournament next season.
“I want to help take Mizzou to the tournament,” Buggs said. “That’s my main goal. I’ve never been, and that’s been a dream of mine, and I feel like we have the team to do so and I believe in coach Cuonzo’s vision that he has for the team.”
Shamburger and Webster-Chan helped familiarize Buggs with Missouri. Buggs said he was struck by the fact that, even though both predated Martin’s tenure, they have developed relationships with the current Tiger coach.
“They had good things to say about it, how they enjoyed their time and how they even still have relationships with coach Cuonzo right now, and just how much they enjoyed the university and just thought it would be a really good fit for me based off how I played at Hawaii,” Buggs said.
Buggs averaged 9.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game during his redshirt junior year at Hawaii. He earned all-Big West honorable mention status for the second season in a row. He started all 31 games for the Rainbow Warriors last season and has started 68 games during his college career. He pointed to his experience and leadership ability as valuable traits he can bring to Missouri.
Buggs said during the recruiting process that the Missouri coaches saw him as a true point guard, and while he still said that’s where he feels more comfortable, he said Sunday that he will play anywhere the team needs him. His distributing ability was his strength at Hawaii — his assist rate of 30.5 percent led the Big West — while he struggled a bit as a shooter. Buggs shot just 36.2 percent from the field and 26.2 percent from three-point range. Still, he believes he can fill whatever role Missouri needs him to take on, even if it’s as a more willing scorer.
“I look at myself as an unselfish player who knows how to make the right plays, knows how to facilitate and run the offense, but I have the ability to score as well and knock down shots,” Buggs said.
With Missouri’s campus currently closed, Buggs doesn’t yet know when he’ll be able to move to Missouri and meet the team, but he’s eager to embark on his final college basketball season.
“I know there’s a lot of talented players there,” Bugg said, “so I’m just wanting to come in and fit in however I can to help the team win.”