The Hawaii basketball team’s honorees for Saturday’s senior night were raised oceans apart.

Combo guard Sheriff Drammeh grew up in Sweden and lived for a time in Spain. He speaks three languages (Swedish, Mandinka and English), and his Arabic first name translates to “noble.” Point guard Brocke Stepteau was reared in Dallas, the son of an anesthesiologist and a former NBA executive. Jack Purchase is an Australia native who spent his first college year at Auburn.

Coach Eran Ganot said the three seniors have come from “different situations and different backgrounds,” but are united through their experiences in Hawaii and passion for the sport.

A family member has influenced each senior. Drammeh recalled a 1-on-1 game against a cousin who slipped into the lane for an easy layup.

“He got by me and I gave up,” Drammeh said. “He got super mad at me. He got up in my face about it. Ever since, I kept playing hard. I got the habits down of taking charges. Defending was about pride. He made me realize that.”

Dr. Torrence Stepteau is an anesthesiologist who served as his son’s shot doctor and advocate of the no-pain, no-gain ethos. In driveway workouts, the elder Stepteau used his size and strength to teach his son about attacking the lane and shooting over and around taller defenders.

“He was pushing me,” Brocke Stepteau said. “He was blocking my shot with the broom. It was all love. That’s what I wanted. He wanted to make me improve. He was the one who first put the basketball in my hands. He was big in my development growing up.”

Purchase’s father-son time was in the family’s backyard, where a rim and a makeshift court were set up. But the asphalt only extended to the key. It was from the surrounding grass area where Purchase, with his father serving as rebounder and passer, honed his long-distance shooting.

The seniors also have had to overcome prejudgments. Drammeh’s unabashed on-court enthusiasm often is misinterpreted. But he said the gestures after taking a charge or hitting a 3 are expressions of joy — but not for himself. “I love the fans and the kids,” Drammeh said. “All the celebrations I do, it’s really for them. It’s for them to enjoy that.”

Drammeh added: “Everybody is going to have their perspective about you. Some people might misunderstand me, some people don’t. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got go keep living the way you do. You can’t please everybody. I try, but if somebody misunderstands me, they can always come up and ask me.”

Stepteau is 5 feet 9, the exact average height for an adult male in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Around campus, I don’t feel small,” Stepteau said. “When I get around my teammates, that’s when I feel small. I’ve always played basketball. In that instance, I’ve always been small.”

Since the third grade, Stepteau was the shortest player on his team. “The writing on the wall was I was going to be small,” said Stepteau, who began working on ways to use his quickness and ball-handling to his advantage. “I had to figure out a way to do it.”

As a tall player, the 6-foot-9 Purchase went against expectations of being restricted to the low post. As UH’s record holder in career 3s, Purchase proved he was effective as a perimeter passer and shooter. “I just love shooting,” Purchase said. “It’s something that comes naturally to me. There’s nothing better than playing basketball (and) just hearing the net flick.”

The three seniors never exercised the opt-out option. After the 2015-16 season, under a cloud of possible NCAA sanctions, several players left the program. Drammeh did not harbor thoughts about departing, citing his relationship with the fans.

“That’s why I decided to come back after my freshman year when everybody left,” Drammeh said. “The atmosphere is so fun. And the people. And especially the team, which is the biggest reason.”

In 2015-16, Stepteau was a member of the self-styled “Hawaii 5-O,” the reserves who performed celebratory antics after successful UH plays. Stepteau often served as the “airplane,” held up by teammates. Stepteau embraced that role because “at that point, I knew I wasn’t ready to play. I’m pretty honest with myself on the court.”

But after that season, he worked extensively on his jump shot. “I wanted to make sure that was consistent,” Stepteau said. “You can be quick, but teams can sag off you if you can’t shoot. I wanted to make sure I could shoot so that could open up everything else I could do.”

Stepteau went from 2.4 minutes per game as a walk-on freshman to 25.9 minutes as a sophomore, and then 28.5 last year. In the offseason, he was awarded a scholarship. Stepteau is UH’s captain this season.

“If a walk-on out-performs a guy on scholarship, he’ll play,” Ganot said. “He out-performed guys, and then he played and — guess what? — he played well and got more minutes. And then he started.”

Purchase played in only seven games at Auburn before transferring. He redshirted during 2015-16 in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

“When you sit out for two years of playing basketball, when you’re down from playing every week, you lose confidence,” Purchase said. “I kind of sat out two years when I really hadn’t sat out two weeks of basketball in my life.”

Ganot said when Purchase regained confidence in his shot “the rest fell in place for him.”

Drammeh said senior night will be “exciting but emotional.”

Purchase said after four years at UH “this is my last week on campus being a student-athlete. It’s all come and gone very quickly. I’m appreciative of how amazing it’s been.”

Stepteau, who does not have biological siblings, said: “I’m so far away from home, these guys and coaches have become my extended family. It’s not like high school, where you play and then you go home. I’m around these guys 24/7. I live with some of them. These guys mean everything. They’re like my brothers. These are friendships I’ll keep for a long time.”