Former USF star Jamari Buyea plays first professional home game

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Visiting players are rarely the main attraction at Santa Cruz Warriors games.

Crowds at Kaiser Permanente Arena usually turn up for affordable tickets, carne asada nachos, and the chance to see a few hoopers who might end up making it into the Golden State Warriors rotation one day.

However, Thursday was not an ordinary night.

Coast native Jamari Buyea, who led the USF to the NCAA Tournament in his final college season, played on the Central Coast for the first time in his professional career as his Sioux Falls Skyforce made their first straight game against the Warriors. .

Jamari Buyea warms up before an NBA G-League game between the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Santa Cruz Warriors at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California on January 12, 2023. | Ethan Cassel/Standard

“It’s good to be home,” Buyea said. “To have my family and friends support me even when everyone is fighting the flood right now, I really appreciate it.”

Buyea scored just eight points in 34 minutes in a 126-103 loss, a far cry from his 34-point game on Monday when he defeated the Stockton Kings, but received a standing ovation from the starter and after each of his four goals.

“The crowd was in a big commotion, although I didn’t fire too many shots,” he said.

Several USF and Palma T-shirts and caps were scattered throughout the crowd, along with blues and yellows. Buei’s mother, Lavender, sat by the court and many of his mentors were on hand, including Jason Heeb, who coached his Seaside’s Finest AAU teams, and Palma coach Kelly Lopez.

“I played here a lot in high school and watched a few G-League games,” said Buyea, who graduated from Palma in 2017. “Being here is special. My mom always dreamed that I was here, and so am I.”

Area code 831 has produced solid athletes for decades, such as Orlando Johnson, who played parts for three seasons in the NBA, but only a small handful of athletes from Santa Cruz or Monterey counties have ever played the pro game at home. territories, as Bujea did.

In college, he managed to play one real home game. Poor air quality in the Bay Area forced the Dons to reschedule their 2018 game against LIU Brooklyn at CSU Monterey Bay, a game that suddenly went from a boring no-conference event to a celebration of one of Monterey County’s top hoopers.

Jamari Buyea (1) dribbles during the fourth quarter of an NBA G-League game between the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Santa Cruz Warriors at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California on January 12, 2023. | Ethan Cassel/Standard

Despite Thursday’s result and Buyea’s 4-of-10 shooting performance, it was a similar celebration of everything he had achieved. The wiry 6-foot-2 guard who received his only Division I offer from high school and propelled the only program that believed in him to his first NCAA Tournament appearance in over two decades is back.

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After Friday’s game, Skyforce will once again return to Northern California to visit Stockton on March 18. Two weeks earlier, they will play a couple of games in Los Angeles County against the South Bay Lakers, who play in a 750-seat hall in El Segundo.

Thursday and Friday could be the only games that Buyea has played in his home region in his entire professional career. His contract with Exhibit 10 is valid for this season only. Whether he stays with the Miami Heat, finds a home with another professional club in the United States, or plans to play abroad remains to be seen, although he apparently has a good relationship with the Heat.

“We communicate well,” Buyea said. “They always come and talk to our coaches.”

While most G League teams are located close to their parent organization, Sioux Falls is far away from Miami both geographically and culturally. The only thing that looks like a direct flight between them is the Allegiant Air route from Sioux Falls to Fort Lauderdale.

“Sioux Falls is a beautiful place, but it’s kind of off the beaten track,” Buyea said of the city of nearly 200,000 people in the southeast corner of South Dakota, close to the borders of Iowa and Minnesota. “I love living there and I love being part of the organization, but being close to home is something special.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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