Low comes into his own as junior

PULLMAN – Derrick Low’s maturation has mirrored that of the Cougars in his three years at Washington State.

As a freshman, the guard had his moments, but for the most part wasn’t up to full speed in Pac-10 play. Injured for a chunk of his sophomore year, Low returned but struggled badly down the stretch.

Now as a junior, the team’s top scorer, who hails from Honolulu, has become a legitimate threat to take over games on a nightly basis, scoring from all over the court and striking fear into opponents. Low and the Cougars face Washington this weekend on Friel Court.

S-R: So what’s up with the new look this year?

DL: (The tattoo) is just my family genealogy. There’s meaning behind it. My family basically goes back to the goddess of the ocean. That’s why me and my dad and the rest of my family, for some odd reason that makes sense now, we love the water. We love to go swimming in it. We love to spend time in the ocean. My family, we’re navigators from Tahiti. They navigated the eight channels, and that’s the (tattoo) design in the middle. The triangles, we have ties to the god of the sharks.

S-R: And the hair?

DL: It’s funny. At first I grew it out just to grow it out. No reason whatsoever. And then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe there is a reason.

S-R: It seems to have become part of a trademark look.

DL: It’s funny, one of the ZZU crew members, he wears the (hair) band like me for the whole game. I had a red band, but they said I had to wear a white one for our home jerseys and a red one for our road jerseys. Before, I used to wear just a red one all the time. It’s funny.

S-R: No plans to cut it short again?

DL: No. It feels good. It feels different. I never really had long hair before, and it’s just my new-found freedom. My dad always told me to cut my hair back home. … And I’m representing something. I’m representing Hawaiians, and I’ve got to do that with pride. It’s something a little different.

S-R: How much fun has this year been for you?

DL: It’s been real fun. It’s always fun to win games and be successful. But put that away, this year has been fun just playing under coach Tony Bennett. We all seem to be playing well together and we’re finally starting to earn a little bit of respect, and that’s what we all came here for.