The scene was so powerfully touching, it was enough to make a modern-day samurai cry.

"I shed a tear," admitted Clyde Hirata, who made the journey from Kaimuki to Pullman, Wash., last Saturday to watch 'Iolani School graduate Derrick Low play his final home basketball game for Washington State University. "We all should be proud of him."

That qualifies as ultimate praise from Hirata, who has been both a pillar of support and harshest critic for Low the past 14 years, ever since his son, Ryan, and Low became teammates and best friends as 8-year-olds.

While Low, a 6-foot-2 senior guard and All-Pac-10 Conference third-team selection, was blazing new paths at 'Iolani and Washington State as perhaps Hawai'i's best-ever homegrown basketball product, Hirata could always be counted on to make sure he stayed grounded.

"It's really rare when he praises me," Low said, "which is good, because he always expects the best from me and wants me to do better."

Low said Hirata and his wife, Sandy, also served as "my second mom and dad" since his own father, Ken, was a single parent.

"I would always be at their house, way more than once a week," Low said. "They always take care of me."

Low and Ryan Hirata, a former 'Iolani and Maryknoll standout guard who also played at Chaminade, first met at a youth tournament in Hilo about 14 years ago. They played on opposing teams, but their fathers also formed a friendship then and coached both boys on the same team from then on.

During one game at Kalani High School gym when Low — already a phenom whom Clyde Hirata described as "a rascal kind of kid" — was 11 years old, he showed a rare lack of effort.

"He was playing real lazily, so I took him out and gave him the gas on the sideline," Hirata said. "I sat him down and I said, 'What, you think you one star or something?' I benched him."

After the game, Ken Low wasn't sure how his son would react to the tongue lashing.

"I asked him what he wanted to do, and he said, 'Aren't we going to Coach Clyde's house?' " Ken said. "That showed me that he trusted Clyde, that he could take the criticism."

Sandy Hirata, along with Ryan and daughter Chanel, helped make Low feel as if their home was his own.

"He would hang out at the house and sleep over a lot," Sandy said. "He was like one of our kids. It was a place where he could just be himself. To others, he can be shy, but here he just hangs loose."

Clyde Hirata, the stern and gruff coach, would be the one to invite the team over for pizza and movies.

"Derrick was a kid that could have gone either way," Hirata said. "He could have just hung out at the park, but at least with us he was in more of a family situation. He called my wife's mom, 'Grandma,' he called my wife, 'Aunty.' Going to 'Iolani helped, too; it was real structured, which is what he needed. He stayed out of trouble."

At the same time, Hirata marveled at how well Ken Low — a bus mechanic — managed as a single parent with two other kids.

"All the credit goes to Ken," Hirata said. "Derrick was always respectful, he never talked back. Kenny did a great job raising him."

Ken Low, for his part, thought so much of the Hiratas' role in Derrick's upbringing that he wanted Clyde and Sandy to be on the court during Saturday's pregame ceremony honoring the Cougars' five seniors.

"You should have seen the look on Derrick's face when they showed up to Friday's practice," Low said. "It meant everything to me to have them there for his last home game."

It was the Hiratas' first trip to Pullman, and they immediately learned how big an impact Low — who helped transform Washington State from a Pac-10 cellar dweller to a conference power currently ranked No. 21 in the nation — made on the sleepy Northwest community.

"The whole town is situated around the university, and there were people everywhere walking down the street wearing Cougars shirts," Sandy Hirata said. "In the campus bookstore there were only No. 2 jerseys (Low's number)."

Clyde Hirata said there were hundreds of students lined up outside the arena in 30-degree weather at 12:30 p.m. for Saturday's game against arch rival Washington that tipped off at 4:30.

"You gotta give Derrick and his teammates credit," Hirata said. "They went from having nothing, maybe 2,000 people at their games (as freshmen), to a game that was almost sold out (10,630) even though it was spring break. A lot of students stayed back just for that game."

During the pregame ceremony, Low (with lei hanging around his neck) walked out with his dad to halfcourt, greeted by thunderous cheers. Ken Low punched the sky with his right hand as the standing ovation continued.

"That was so cool, I wanted to share it with my dad," Low said. "He's always been there for me, taking me everywhere I needed to go when I was a kid. For him to get acknowledged like that, it was a pretty nice moment."

Sandy Hirata said it was more than that.

"To watch it in person, I was standing there with chills," she said. "It was something to see."

Ken Low and the Hiratas then watched from courtside as Derrick scored 16 points, made two steals and dished out two assists to help the Cougars win, 76-73, in double overtime, and secure the No. 3 seed for this week's Pac-10 Tournament at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Washington State (23-7) will face No. 6 seed Oregon (18-12) at 3 p.m. Hawai'i time in tomorrow's quarterfinals. The game will be televised live on FSNW (Oceanic Channel 20, Digital 226).

As usual, the Hiratas will be watching, but this time they have new perspective on their practically hanai son.

"I'm glad I went (to Pullman), I'm glad I got to see that atmosphere," Clyde Hirata said. "It's a nice experience for the kid. He's not the fastest guy out there, he's not the best leaper, but he's consistent and he always tries his best. That's all anybody can ask.

"He turned out well."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.