I still remember the early August day back in 2003 when I found out Derrick Low had made a verbal commitment to play basketball for Washington State University.

I actually was at Los Angeles International Airport, waiting for a plane to take me home after a 12-day trip to Italy and Southern California.

Derrick's dad, Ken, told me over the phone that a commitment had been made, and like everybody else who found out two days later, I was kind of shocked. Not so much because it was Washington State, because I knew Dick and Tony Bennett had coveted Derrick more than anybody else and worked the hardest to get him.

But the timing surprised me, because earlier he had said he planned to take all of his official recruiting trips that fall before making a final decision. He had visited only Utah up to that point, and hadn't even been to WSU's campus in Pullman, Wash.

Low also was offered recruiting trips to Gonzaga and Hawai'i.

But with a certainty that belied his youth, I saw Derrick say with conviction the next night that Washington State was the right place for him.

When he later visited Pullman -- from many accounts, not exactly an enticing kind of destination for most 17-year-olds -- it actually strengthened his desire to go there to live for the next four years.

At the time, the Cougars were at the bottom of the Pac-10, having won 10 or 12 games combined the previous two years.

Even Low's first two years at Washington State did not convince some people that it was the best choice for him. He broke his foot in each of those seasons, sidelining him for several weeks both times.

The Cougars improved, but their record still was mediocre and they still were a few wins shy of smelling the postseason.

But that was just a buildup for the past two years, which have been almost everything a college basketball player could ask for. Each one with at least 23 wins, a consistent presence in the AP Top 25 poll, NCAA Tournament berths (it's a virtual lock on Selection Sunday).

Soldout arenas. Fan appreciation and adoration. Invitations to the Pan Am Games team and Wooden Award Top 30 list. All-Pac-10 honors.

Last Saturday's Senior Night festivities, plus a 76-73 double-overtime victory over arch rival Washington before 10,630 fans, however, might have been the official stamp of Low's success at Wazzu and slammed the door on any question of that being the right place for his college career.

For him to receive that framed "No. 2" jersey after walking out to halfcourt with his dad, to the roaring standing ovation of the 10,630, was almost like he graduated, like he already received his diploma (which he will in May). And the "basketball diploma" has success written all over it.

So to me, everything else that happens to Low basketball-wise from now on is pure gravy, icing on the cake.

Sure, it would be a huge disappointment to lose early in either or both the Pac-10 or NCAA Tournaments. But such losses in either or both can no longer erase or diminish the accomplishments of Low and his teammates the past four years. Their body of work is too great now for anything -- even early postseason exits -- to bring it down.

I wasn't there, but I think Saturday night showed that. Derrick Low left Wazzu's Friel Court a helluva lot better than the way he found it four years ago, he left it with a treasure chest of memories and great moments that won't be soon forgotten.

I don't know if anybody else could have envisioned all that has happened there during that time.

But somehow, Low did, way back on that early August day in 2003.

"I never had any doubt," Low said Monday night.

Yes, it was a good choice. We know that for sure now.