Sunday, November 07, 1999
Basketball nomad Hughes finds NBA home in Dallas
TMC grad reaches goal after 3 years
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Betty Hughes would open her door and yell for her basketball-playing son, Rick, to come in and wash dishes.
“Mom, I've got to go practice,” he would say. “I'm going to get in the NBA.”
Hughes has kept his word.
Thursday night, the Walnut Hills High and Thomas More College product donned a Dallas Mavericks jersey and entered a regular-season NBA game for the first time. He played eight minutes, scoring four points on 2-of-4 shooting in a 106-96 loss at Seattle.
“It's been a crazy week, but it's starting to sink in, like, "Hey, I've arrived,'” he said.
Few players make a jump from Division III to the NBA. Fewer still arrive undrafted with dust on their diploma.
Hughes, 26, is a 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward. His resume lists 31/2 years as a basketball nomad: four European tours, one International Basketball Association season, a U.S. tour with Marathon Oil and seven NBA minicamps.
Last year was Hughes' breakthrough season. He averaged 37.2 points and 14.0 rebounds in the Lebanese pro league; that scoring average was tops of any pro league in the world.
He played this preseason with Utah, averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game. He led the Jazz with 19 points in an Oct.15 game against Seattle.
Dallas had an opening after placing starting power forward Gary Trent (torn hamstring) on injured reserve.
Hughes requested jersey No.3: “It took me three long years to get here. Now whenever I look down, I'll think, "Don't slack up; you've worked too hard.'”
It has been a whirlwind week. Dallas called Monday night, hoping Hughes would join the team for its season opener Tuesday. But he was in New York and couldn't be reached.
When Hughes got word, he flew straight to Dallas, then to Seattle for his debut Thursday, then to Oakland to play Golden State Saturday night.
Hughes signed a one-year deal but has to remain on the team until February for the contract to become guaranteed.
“I feel like it's overdue,” he said. “I'm a talented ballplayer; I just needed the chance.”
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