Elijah Hughes

Elijah Wayne Hughes (born March 10, 1998) is an American basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the East Carolina Pirates and the Syracuse Orange.

Elijah Hughes
Hughes with Syracuse in 2020
No. 33 – Utah Jazz
PositionSmall forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-03-10) March 10, 1998
Poughkeepsie, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 39th overall
Selected by the New Orleans Pelicans
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–presentUtah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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]

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2020–present)

Hughes was selected with the 39th pick in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. His draft rights were traded to the Utah Jazz.[14] On November 24, 2020, the Utah Jazz announced that they had signed with Hughes.[15]

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 25720.5.349.273.6842.31.3.6.47.8
2017–18 Syracuse
Redshirt
2018–19 Syracuse 343432.7.420.369.7424.31.51.2.813.7
2019–20 Syracuse 323236.7.427.342.8134.93.41.2.819.0
Career 917330.7.411.342.7634.02.11.0.713.9

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.[16]

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. "Elijah Hughes is Headed to the Utah Jazz". SI.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  15. "Jazz sign Azubuike and Hughes". NBA.com. November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  16. "Talah Hughes". Saint Peter's University Athletics. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
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