Derrick Low's trademark mane has been chopped off, as has the light mustache and bristly beard extending to the sideburns.

The new "D-Low" look is clean-cut, sleek and slender.

"Life was getting too hard with it," Low, 23, said about his former shoulder-length hair. "Maintaining it, sleeping with it ... This (short hair) is so easy. Things are going good with it."

The look might have changed, but the person has not, especially Low's mellow, humble demeanor.

An up-and-down first year of professional basketball taught the former Advertiser three-time State Player of the Year many things, but the lesson of being humble and appreciating your support system is something he learned long before an All-Pac-10 career at Washington State.

Since returning from Rouen, France, last month, Low made his usual stop to speak to kids at Dennis Agena's Kalakaua Foundation Clinic, and last Saturday he was the featured instructor at two clinics at 'Iolani School, his alma mater.

The 'Iolani clinics — which were three hours each and open to boys and girls ages 8 to 17 — were a fund-raiser for the Hawai'i Raiders high school boys all-star team that will compete in a prestigious club tournament in Las Vegas next month.

The clinics drew a total of 110 kids.

"We tried to teach them a few new things," said Low, a 6-foot-1 point guard. "The Kalakaua Clinic teaches a lot of ball-handling, which is great, but we tried to teach other things like moving without the ball, coming off the ball, the jab step ... I think it went really well."

Low has been working on some of the same things himself, while hoping to hook on with an NBA summer league team for the second straight year. Low said his Los Angeles-based agent, Sam Goldfeder, will try to have him placed in the Las Vegas Summer League after the NBA Draft is completed on June 25.

"He'll be inquiring with a few GMs," Low said.

Low played sparingly for the Dallas Mavericks' team in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City last summer, and he was advised to spend a season playing overseas. Low joined the Sydney Spirit of the Australian Basketball League in August and was the ABL's third-leading scorer (19.3 points per game) before the team's owners could not meet financial obligations in mid-November. He returned to Honolulu shortly afterward and signed with Rouen in France's "Pro A" league in January.

Low averaged 22.8 minutes in 18 games at Rouen, scoring 9.8 points and dishing 2.6 assists per game. He shot 39 percent (30 of 77) from 3-point range.

"It went well in France, they gave me the freedom to call plays and I got a good taste of being a (professional) point guard," said Low, who was a "combo" guard in Australia and his last two seasons at Washington State. "There's always going to be an adjustment going from college to the pros, and I still need to polish up on a few things. It's good that I got to experience it and get a taste of it, get some knowledge. Now it's just a matter of putting everything together."

In the meantime, Low has taken time out of his training to visit with former coaches and friends on O'ahu.

Best friend and former 'Iolani teammate Ryan Hirata is a coach for the Hawai'i Raiders and was the organizer for Saturday's clinics.

"It's all about giving back, even if it's just a little bit," Low said. "It's the right thing to do, after all the help I had growing up."

Agena said Low has visited his Kalakaua Clinic during every trip home — no matter how short — since he left for college in 2004.

"He's been good about that, he always comes back to say hello," Agena said during a break between sessions on Sunday. "He talks to the kids and stresses hard work, taking care of academics. And they listen.

"They all look up to him, and they respect him."