Elijah Hughes

Elijah Wayne Hughes (born March 10, 1998) is an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the East Carolina Pirates and the Syracuse Orange.

Elijah Hughes

Hughes (#33) in January 2020
Personal information
Born	(1998-03-10) March 10, 1998 Poughkeepsie, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Beacon (Beacon, New York) Kennedy Catholic (Somers, New York) South Kent School (South Kent, Connecticut)
College	East Carolina (2016–2017) Syracuse (2018–2020)
Position	Small forward
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-ACC (2020)

Early life

Hughes was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and grew up in Beacon, New York. He started playing basketball through the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) and began playing on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit for local coach, Kenney Dawson. Hughes became well-known in Beacon for his basketball ability, dominating games at Loopers Park.[1]

High school career

Following his eighth-grade basketball season, Hughes was called up to the varsity team at Beacon High School in Beacon, New York. Early in high school, he mainly played the point guard position despite his exceptional size.[1] After two years at the school, Hughes transferred to John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, New York with hopes of receiving more exposure.[2]

As a junior, he led his team to a 26–2 record and runners-up finish at the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) championship. Hughes was named first-team Class A All-State and CHSAA Class A most valuable player (MVP).[3] He scored 42 points against Jamesville Dewitt High School.[2] After the season, he committed to play college basketball for East Carolina. However, he struggled academically, in part due to the long commute and the school's competitive academic environment. To help improve his grades and meet National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requirements, Hughes transferred to South Kent School, a boarding school in South Kent, Connecticut, and later attended summer school.[4] He became teammates with many other NCAA Division I prospects, including Tremont Waters and Myles Powell. Hughes was a three-star recruit and the No. 5 player in his state according to 247Sports.[1]

College career

Hughes began his collegiate career at East Carolina. As a freshman, he averaged 7.8 and 2.3 rebounds in 27 games, missing seven games due to injury.[5][6] The Pirates finished 15–18, and Hughes gained weight due to the injury.[1] His season-high 19 points came against South Florida on December 28, 2016. Following the end of the season, Hughes announced that he would be leaving East Carolina.[7]

Hughes decided to transfer to Syracuse over an offer from Seton Hall.[8] After redshirting a year due to NCAA transfer rules, during which he improved his strength and diet, Hughes was named a starter for the Orange going into his redshirt sophomore season. He was the team's second leading scorer with 13.7 points per game while also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[9][2] He took more three-pointers than any other teammate and made 36.9 percent of them.[1] Hughes scored a career-high 25 points in the season-ending loss to Baylor in the NCAA tournament.[3] Entering his junior season, Hughes was named to the watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which honors the top collegiate small forward.[10] On February 11, 2020, Hughes left a game against NC State early with a lower body injury.[11] At the conclusion of the regular season, Hughes was selected to the First Team All-ACC.[12] As a junior, Hughes averaged 19 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. After the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[13]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	East Carolina	25	7	20.5	.349	.273	.684	2.3	1.3	.6	.4	7.8
2017–18	Syracuse	Redshirt
2018–19	Syracuse	34	34	32.7	.420	.369	.742	4.3	1.5	1.2	.8	13.7
2019–20	Syracuse	32	32	36.7	.427	.342	.813	4.9	3.4	1.2	.8	19.0
Career		91	73	30.7	.411	.342	.763	4.0	2.1	1.0	.7	13.9

Personal life

Hughes is the sixth of seven children. Hughes' father, Wayne, works for information technology company IBM. His mother, Penny, was a teacher's aide for Beacon City Schools before counseling at a methadone clinic.[1] Hughes' older sister, Talah, played college basketball for Saint Peter's and scored over 1,000 career points.[14]

References

1. Ditota, Donna (August 8, 2019). "Elijah Hughes, the 'Golden Child,' spins small-town promise into Syracuse basketball dream". The Post-Standard. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
2. Gutierrez, Matthew (October 30, 2019). "How Elijah Hughes went from an under-recruited mid-major prospect to Syracuse's budding star". The Athletic. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
3. Waters, Mike (October 21, 2019). "Syracuse's Elijah Hughes says he's ready for starring role". The Post-Standard. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
4. Manning, Bobby (November 5, 2019). "Elijah Hughes to fight for ACC scoring title as he leads Syracuse, inspires Beacon". Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
5. Sigel, Ben (May 10, 2017). "East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes will begin Syracuse visit today". NunesMagician.com. SB Nation. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
6. Igoe, Stephen (January 17, 2019). "Where are they now? Recent ECU hoops departures". 247Sports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
7. Friedlander, Brett (April 25, 2017). "Freshman Hughes leaving ECU basketball team". North State Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
8. Waters, Mike (May 11, 2017). "East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes commits to Syracuse". The Post-Standard. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
9. Manning, Bobby (October 4, 2019). "Syracuse basketball preseason player profiles: Elijah Hughes". NunesMagician.com. SB Nation. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
10. "College basketball awards: 20 small forwards named to 2020 Julius Erving Award preseason watch list". NCAA. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
11. Burrows, Ben (February 11, 2020). "Elijah Hughes leaves Syracuse basketball's game vs. NC State". The Post-Standard. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
12. "2020 ACC Men's Basketball Award Winners Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
13. Weinstein, Robbie (March 21, 2020). "Syracuse star Elijah Hughes declares for 2020 NBA Draft". 247 Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
14. "Talah Hughes". Saint Peter's University Athletics. Retrieved January 9, 2020.

External links

• Syracuse Orange bio
• East Carolina Pirates bio