Keith Hughes (June 29, 1968 – February 8, 2014) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played for two years at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and then transferred to

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, before being drafted by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, and subsequently being traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, in the 1991 NBA draft.

High school career

Hughes started playing basketball with

Carteret High School Carteret High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary school of the Carteret School Distr ...

. He was named to the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

All Sophomore team 1984. In 1986, he was nominated to the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

(Top 50). He attende
Five Star basketball Camp
in Western Pennsylvania and was named MVP twice, and was also selected to the Nike All American 50. He was a first round draft pick for the Jersey Shore Summer Basketball League (JSBL) and led in scoring and rebounds from 1984 to 1986. Most notably, Hughes was named Player of the Year in

in 1986.

College career

Hughes college career began at

for two seasons. In his sophomore season, Hughes came off the bench, averaging 5.4 points in a limited role. He led the team in scoring in a win over

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...

with 19 points. Seeing very little playing time, he left the team in February 1988 and transferred to

. After sitting out one season due to transfer rules, Hughes went on to star for

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. Ranked in their first

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

Top 25 appearance since 1976, he led the Scarlet Knights to an NCAA Tournament Basketball appearance in 1991, losing to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in first round, 79–76. He would score 1,257 points in two seasons (64 games) and pull down 575 rebounds, for averages of 19.6 ppg and 9.0 rpg. He was the season single scoring leader in 1989–90 and 1990–91. He would be named to the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

second team his junior season, and the conference first team his senior season. Hughes was named

Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Atlantic 10 Conference's (A–10) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the conference's inaugural 1976–77 season, when the c ...

in 1991. He had a career high 40 points versus

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

to stop the nation's longest home game winning streak with a 79–78 win. In his four years of college ball, Hughes would score 1,397 points for an average of 13.6. points per game.

Professional career

Hughes was drafted by the

in the second round (47th overall), and was traded to the

, in the 1991 NBA draft. After being drafted, Hughes played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA). In 1991, he played for

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, averaging 17 ppg and 9 rpg. In 1992, he played for the

Albany Patroons The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won ...

averaging 18 ppg and 14 rpg. Hughes began his international career in 1992 with the

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Club, Banco De Cordoba in Provincia, averaging 27 ppg and 10 rpg. After the team folded in 1993, he played in 2 games for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

's Pallacanestro Viola in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

as a replacement player. The same year he played in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for Galatasaray Medical Park for 4 games, averaging 18.2 ppg and 9.2 rpg. In 1994, Hughes played for

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, averaging 22.3 ppg and led the league in rebounds with 13.1 rpg. Hughes then played for

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in 1995, averaging 18.9 ppg and 11.2 rpg. He returned to play in

in 1996 with

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...

, where he started for 7 games and averaged 19.4 ppg and 12.3 rpg. The same season, he played in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to replace an injured player in

Pepinster Pepinster ( or ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Pepinster had a total population of 9,560. The total area is 24.79 km2 which gives a population density of 386 inhabitants per km2. ...

. There he averaged 17.5 ppg and 9 rpg. In 1997, he signed with

Estudiantes de Olavarría Club Atlético Estudiantes, usually called Estudiantes de Olavarría, is an Argentine sports club based in Olavarría, Buenos Aires Province. Club's nickname is ''Albinegro''. Estudiantes gained notoriety in late 1990s when the basketball team ...

and was released in November. In December, he signed with Unia Tarnów in

, where he averaged 20.3 ppg and 8 rpg. The 1999–2000 season, Hughes played for Tcherno More Sodi in

Varna, Bulgaria Varna ( bg, Варна, ) is the third-largest List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the ...

and played in the

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

. He was named Bulgarian Player of the Year. In 2000–01 he played for

Ferrol CB Ferrol CB is a Spanish basketball team, from Ferrol, in Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of th ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he averaged 16 ppg and 12.3 rpg. In the 2001–02 season he played in

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

where he averaged 18.1 ppg and 9.9 rpg. In the 2002–03 season, he played for

BBC Nyon #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

where he led the league with 16.3 ppg and 11 rpg. In 2006, Hughes coached the

basketball team. He was the first inductee into the Carteret Hall of Fame along with

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

Death

Hughes died on February 8, 2014, at the age of 45.

References

Sources