Among the many things Desure Buie has learned in his time at Hofstra is that there always is more to learn. In his case, for instance, it means having discovered how to go from being a pass-first point guard to becoming a big-time scorer capable of a 44-point game.

    Buie, a fifth-year senior from the Bronx, scored 44 against Elon on Jan. 4 after having scored 35 against Towson on Dec. 30. Before this season, his career scoring average was only 6.5 points per game but he has followed the lead of his longtime close friend Justin Wright-Foreman, the player who used to receive Buie's assists before he made it to the NBA.

    "We talk every day," Buie said of Wright-Foreman, a rookie how splits his time between the Utah Jazz and its G-League affiliate. "He loves the way I'm playing, he's happy that one of his friends is doing something special."

    That friend has twice been named the CAA player of the week and made the mid-season watch list for the Lou Henson Award as the top Division I mid-major player in the country. And that is only part of it. Buie is broadening horizons on and beyond the court.

    He became the first member of his family to graduate from college. He achieved a 3.5 grade-point average. Now he is only three courses shy of a master's degree that he never imagined he would pursue. Overall, he has learned how to have the time of his life. He added another impressive accolade this week when he was named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. 

    "After this, I don't know where life is going to take me. This thing went so fast," he said. "I'm not ready to be gone already. I just want to live in the moment, do as much as I can. I don't want to have any regrets when I leave."
    
    Coach Joe Mihalich always has had only praise for Buie's character and work ethic, then added, "He is different this year. His production is what jumps off the page at you. I think success begets more success. You have a couple of good games and you think, `Wait a minute, I  can score, too.' Then it gets to the point, `I can score even more than I thought I could score.'

    "It's the wonderful thing that happens to mature people who all of a sudden realize, `Hey, this is my senior year!' Every day means a lot to him: Every dribble, every pass, every word a coach says. It's a coach's dream because that's the way every senior should be," Mihalich said.

    Buie admits that when he first arrived on campus, before he played 34 games as a freshman and redshirted his second year because of an injury, the best he could say about his academic ambitions was, "I'd try to do that college thing…"

    He credits his drive in the classroom to the encouragement and demands of Rachel Peel, Associate Dean for the Center for University Advising. She works individually with student-athletes and asks as much of them as their coaches do. "Hats off to her," Buie said. "She drove me, she instilled confidence in me."

    Peel, a native of Yorkshire, England who got into education after a successful career in international finance, said that Buie's standardized test scores and scholastic average at Wings Academy did not suggest he was highly prepared for college. "But it doesn't highlight a student's desire to succeed and it doesn't highlight a student's dedication once they're in an unintimidated, interested environment," she said. "Desure is very vocal, he's a leader, he has an opinion. Faculty members love that.

    "I feel like at the Olympics every day, working with Desure," Peel said. "He's a lovely lad to work with. He motivates me as much as I motivate him."

    As far as his teammates are concerned, it seems like Buie has a double major in leadership and empathy. "I don't really feel like he's different this year. I feel he has always had the same personality. He's got the kind of voice that people listen to," said senior Eli Pemberton, who has known Buie since they played AAU ball together as teenagers. "I feel like he always had that in him. He just stepped up from last year, after Justin left."

    It was no coincidence that Buie's 44-point outing occurred in the game right after a disheartening home loss to William & Mary. In other words, it was when the Pride most needed a lift. "He is really the heart and soul of this team," Pemberton said.

    Buie wants to play professionally, then has a clear picture of how he would like to put that Higher Education master's degree to use. "I want to be a coach," he said. "I think I can be a great college coach. I have a feel for the game and I know how to read certain things."

    But he is in no hurry. There is more to savor in this one last Pride season, more to learn.