Punahou • Sports: Football, basketball • GPA: 2.8 • College: Oregon (football)
On the football field and basketball court, DeForest Buckner put his 6-foot-7, 245-pound frame on the line every time. The daily drives from Waianae to Punahou fortified his commitment to excellence. He overcame various injuries earlier in his career to help Punahou reach the state tournament final in football as a senior and was voted by coaches and media to the All-State first team as a defensive end.
On the hardwood, Buckner was a three-time All-State selection. This season, he defended the paint like no other in recent memory and powered the Buffanblu to a state championship. Buckner, who had beefed up to 255 pounds by the end of winter, was voted All-State player of the year by coaches and media.
Buckner’s playful side endeared him to teammates and classmates, but for the most part, his stoic focus and nonstop work ethic in the weight room paved the road to success. His maturity developed first at home, where he stepped into more responsibility as an oldest son when his father, George, was severely injured in a motorcycle accident. Buckner was just an eighth-grader then.
"It was kind of hard. He’s the big guy in the house. I had to start fixing things, get on my brother (Kenya) about school," he said.
One coach who knows both the father and son is Maryknoll’s Kelly Grant, a former teammate of George Buckner at HPU. "A lot of DeForest’s drive comes from his perseverance," Grant said. "He’s a difference-maker. When he’s on the floor, he makes things difficult with his length and his strength."
His numbers were blue collar in every way: 13 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals per game. He was chosen Hawaii Gatorade basketball player of the year. "Both of my parents are heroes for me," he said. "They’ve done a lot, all the sacrifices they made so I could go to Punahou."
