For as long as Darren Buchanan Sr. can remember, D.C. has been enamored with his son.
Dating from Darren Jr.’s time as a highly recruited youth league quarterback, members of all four D.C. corridors have showered Buchanan with the ultimate signs of respect and admiration: nicknames.
From “The Prospect” to “June” — a Southern twist on Darren Jr. being the second to behold his name — to his father’s personal favorite, “Eye of the City,” the Wilson basketball star has heard them all.
On Saturday afternoon, the three-star recruit added a nickname of his own to the burgeoning list: Hokie. Buchanan announced his commitment to play at Virginia Tech, becoming the first D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association boys’ basketball player to commit to a Power Five school since 2019.
1000% committed ! #GoHokies 🧡 pic.twitter.com/VjySKRcxs5
“To watch him carry the weight of those expectations and get to a place where he can continue his legacy at an ACC school, that’s big time,” Buchanan Sr. said. “I honestly get emotional just thinking about it sometimes.”
After he received his first Division I offer from Bryant and earned DCIAA player of the year honors as a sophomore, the 6-foot-7 wing’s recruitment hit a bit of a lull when the pandemic halted high school sports in D.C. for roughly 18 months.
But following a strong summer with Team Durant on the AAU circuit and multiple marquee performances against private school opponents to start the season, Buchanan saw his recruitment pick up with offers from George Mason, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
“The pandemic was tough because I thought my recruitment was about to go crazy after I won player of the year and stuff as a sophomore but it was honestly the exact opposite,” Buchanan said. “I’m just so grateful that the coaches at Virginia Tech believed in me enough to give me this opportunity.”
The two-time DCIAA player of the year said that in his heart he knew he was going to commit to Virginia Tech during his unofficial visit to campus in January with Wilson Coach David “Tee” Johnson and teammate Robert Dockery, but Johnson wouldn’t allow Buchanan to commit until he took an official visit with his family.
While Virginia Tech’s style of play should provide an opportunity for his versatility to flourish, it was the atmosphere that convinced the Buchanan family a move to Blacksburg was the best decision for their son. He chose the Hokies over Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington and Rutgers.
“Coaches at every school say the right things and try to make you feel loved, but when the entire student section started chanting, ‘We want Darren,’ without any message on the board telling them to, it really moved us,” Buchanan Sr. said. “It was like we were back in the city. Felt just like the [Wilson] Tiger Den.”
With his college decision out of the way, Buchanan — who eclipsed 1,000 career points during a 51-47 win over Gonzaga in Friday’s D.C. State Athletic Association semifinal — can arguably cement his place as the best player in Wilson history by winning a second DCSAA championship Sunday against Sidwell Friends, a rematch of a Jan. 20 regular season loss to the Quakers.
“To have a truly legendary legacy, you got to win championships,” Buchanan said. “Committing to a Power Five school and having the individual awards is cool, but I just want to paint the city green with my brothers.”
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