Darren Buchanan details long journey to finally end up at Rutgers
Rutgers Basketball has almost completely reconfigured their roster this offseason, added 10 new players this offseason.
The highest ranked transfer addition among that group was forward Darren Buchanan, who was once a top high school target for the program before committing to Virginia Tech and eventually transferring to George Washington.
After all those years, Buchanan is now a member of the Rutgers Basketball program and spoke with the media for the first time since arriving on campus.
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What’s it been like to finally end up here after being recruited out of high school?
DARREN BUCHANAN: “Yeah, it feels good, it feels like my second home. I didn’t need a visit when I entered the Transfer Portal because I saw it all when I was in high school. I knew the people here already, so it was kind of like a circle back.
When I entered the portal, coach (Steve Pikiell) Pike called me and was just like how have you been? We really didn’t talk about basketball at first, so that’s when I knew. It was still real love, and like I said, I was probably in the transfer portal for seven days and now I’m going to Rutgers. It was that easy for me, and it’s been a great decision. I love it here, I love the people here, I love my teammates, I love the coaches, I love the academic staff, and everybody’s just great. So I’m blessed to be here.”
What do you think of this year’s team? I know you’re one of the ten new guys on this roster. Can you compare it to some of the previous teams you’ve worked with?
DARREN BUCHANAN: “A lot of new guys, it kind of reminds me of my first year at George Washington. When I went in, it was a whole new team with probably two returners, but here we got four. The four returners have definitely been doing a good job of trying to show guys the way here. I feel like the ten new guys here, we just came in knowing that we needed a culture shift. We know the history of Rutgers basketball, where it’s been, NCAA Tournaments, and things like that. So we all just got the same mindset of putting Rutgers back where it belongs. So I’d say the ten new guys that came in, normally it would be like everybody trying to go eat for themselves and things like that, but it hasn’t been that way at all, not in the slightest. Everybody here knows the goal, we want to win. That’s the end goal, we just want to win.
So it’s been good though, it doesn’t feel like ten new guys. It’s like we’ve known each other for years. The way we talk off the court, on the court, it’s a great group of guys and I’m just blessed and thankful to be here with them.
For guys that don’t know or fans that don’t know, how would you describe your game?
DARREN BUCHANAN: “I’d describe my game just as an all around playmaker. I can score, I can pass, and I think I’m a great passer. I can defend one through five and I’m going to defend one through five. I can play one through five, and I’m just an all around competitor. I want to win, I’ll do whatever it takes to win. There might be games where you see me five points, but 13 rebounds, and six assists, I’m gonna impact winning no matter what. I’m going to always impact winning and I just feel like that’s what stands out about me more than any other player. I’ll do whatever it takes to win. A lot of people say that, but it shows with me, that’s why I’m out here every day. I walk in practice like that every day. Coach Pikiell loves it, and I’m glad that I have a coach like that who thrives off of players who play hard on both ends of the floor. So I’m just blessed, I’m just blessed.”
You’re kind of like a veteran of the team, but also a newcomer too. What’s your kind of biggest piece of advice to all these new guys?
DARREN BUCHANAN: ”Just to enjoy the moment, it flies. I was talking to someone in the locker room and said bro, this is my fourth year of college. I mean, I got two more years left, with this year and next year, but I’m just like time flies. I can tell you everything that happened in my freshman year of high school and that was like six, seven years ago. So I’m just like time flies, so just enjoy it. I tell them this, if you wake up in the morning, there’s no way you should be mad. No way you can come in with an attitude and feel like you don’t want to be here.
So I just tell them, enjoy the moment, man, have fun. Just never try to take the fun out of it. I know it’s becoming a business with NIL and all this stuff, but just remember why you started playing basketball. Because you love it and it’s fun. So I try to do the same with myself every day. I love the game, I want to be here every morning working out and just getting better. That’s it, it’s just fun to me and I love it. So I just feel like as long as it’s that way to me, I always enjoy it.”
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