The Mysterious Rex Hughes

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1


The KF Wiki Project could use your help.

A problem has been encountered. His name is (was?) Rex Hughes. Former Kings coach for those who don't know. International man of mystery too. Possibly abducted by space aliens. Now Rex was nobody much in NBA circles, and like many nobody muches who's primary careers finished up before the birth of the internet, comprehensive knowledge is sketchy. Basically there was no Wikipedia when he mattered, so nobody bothered to collect his information.

Here is what is known:

1958-60: college, played for Pepperdine

1960s through early 70s: ?? A lost decade. No records. No knowledge. Could have been a shrimp fisherman. could have been at Woodstock. You would think he was off coaching/assistant coaching somewhere but there is no record of what he did.

1974-78: really disastrous run as head coach of Kent State University. How/why he got hired is completely unknown. Somehow he did, and he went 27-63 before getting fired.

1979-80: hooked on with Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV as an assistant coach. Would have known Tark, probably Theus.

1980s all the way through 1991: unknown again. He disappeared for a solid decade + with not one mention. Could have been back to fishing shrimp. Could have been selling vacuum cleaners, in prison, in the astronaut program. There is NOTHING. He might even still have been at UNLV, but I can't find anything to say so.

1991: somehow he is on the Kings staff, no idea how or why he was hired, or when, but Motta has him. Somehow he is lead assistant I guess, despite only head coaching experience being 15 years back as a failure at Kent State, and coaches Kings for half a season.

1992: after kings hire Gary St. Jean, Hughes goes to join Tarkanian as he takes over the Spurs in 1992. But Trak floipped, was fired inside of two months. That year Hughes coaches one game as head coach for the Spurs, maybe filling in after Tark was canned? And that is IT. Did he finish the season as an assistant there? Was he canned a few days later? Did he ever return to the league? Did he end up flipping burgers at McDoinald's?

1993 onward: and again he completely disappears. Seriously, this guy is either incredibly private and must be pretty proud at his ability to completely cover his tracks, or he must be incredibly depressed as he is completely forgotten about, there are no further records of anything. Not in basketball, not anywhere. In fact the only reason to suspect he is ever still around, or was circa 2009 is that Jim Rome randomly interviewed him in 2009 as part of some gimmick where everyday he was interviewing somebody else named Rex. How/why he even remembered Hughes existed I don't know.

Can ANYBODY here fill in any of these blanks?

1958-60: Pepperdine as player
1960-73:???
1974-78: head coach Kent State
1979-80: assistant coach UNLV
1981-91: ???
1991-92: assistant then head coach Kings
1992: assistant coach Spurs
1993-onward???

without more information this page is looking like a stub. He existed. He failed at Kent State once long ago. He knew Tark. He was an interim for us. He was abducted by aliens. The end.

His basketball-reference page: http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/hughere99c.html
His college coaching page: http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/coaches/rex-hughes-1.html
His failure of a wiki stub: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Hughes
The note of his hiring by the Spurs: http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...IEzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ejIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=1597,4198495
The summation mentioning Peperdine at fanbase.com: http://www.fanbase.com/Rex-Hughes

If this guy is a spy, he should give classes on who to disappear. Anybody know anything more?
 
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#2
Rex Hughes (1956 – basketball, football). Hughes played three years on the varsity basketball team at RUHS. In his many seasons as a Sea Hawk, Hughes set numerous records and accomplished many feats both on the gridiron and on the basketball court.

Hughes was known for his skill in basketball and for his excellent sportsmanship and leadership. For his all-around playing ability in the sport of basketball during the 1954-55 season, Hughes received the distinction of being named to the first team All-Bay League and All-CIF basketball teams. Hughes averaged 19.6 points per game. In 1955 and 1956, he led the Bay league in scoring.

After high school, Hughes attended Baylor, later transferring to Pepperdine.

Hughes first attempts at coaching began as an assistant basketball coach at North Torrance High School. In 1964, he returned to his alma mater. In his first year as the head basketball coach, he did a remarkable job. Hughes guided the team to a phenomenal 26-1 overall record. His team was ranked No.1 in the CIF Southern Section, No.1 in the state and No. 3 nationally. The pressure of 26 consecutive wins caught up with the Sea Hawks in the semifinals and they were defeated in a heartbreaking loss to North Torrance. That same year, he was named Coach of the Year.

Hughes served as the men’s basketball coach at Kent State University from 1974-78. He would serve as an NBA head and assistant coach. Hughes served as a head coach for part of a season with the Sacramento Kings, and a single game (as an interim coach) with the San Antonio Spurs.
Source: http://www.easyreadernews.com/75396/redondo-union-athletic-hall-of-fame/

Only helpful thing there was that he was head coach of North Torrance High School, and then head coach of Redondo Union High School starting in 1964.


Also...
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#3
Well, its certainly something. It helps reduce the 60s ??? period by about half. Went into high school coaching...then shrimp fishing. :)
 
#4
Also... he became assistant coach in 1990 for the Kings, was Atlanta's head scout before that, and was a part time scout for the Kings in 1987...
KINGS OFFER COACHING JOB TO ATLANTA'S HEAD SCOUT
Published on August 07, 1990, Page D6, Article 21 of 21 found, 191 words.
** The Kings have offered an assistant coaching position to Atlanta Hawks head scout Rex Hughes.

Hughes, 51, is expected to accept and become the third member of the Kings' coaching staff along with head coach Dick Motta and assistant coach Bill Berry.

Player personnel director Jerry Reynolds spoke highly of Hughes, a part-time scout for the Kings in 1987.

He's been offered the job, and he basically has accepted, Reynolds said. He told me he wanted the job. The only thing that
Read more here: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...t=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no#storylink=cpy

It costs $2.95 to download and read that whole article.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#6
yay. Between your contributions, and the ones in the book I just listed, I think we can piece together a fairly complete biography. Given how sad his wiki page is, we might be the only people to have a full one up. :)
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#7
Pretty much looks like:

1958-60: Pepperdine as player
1960-67: high school coach
1968-69: ehad coach junio college Long Beach Junior College
1969-72: assistant coach Nebraska
1972-74: assistant coach USC
1974-78: head coach Kent State
1979-80: assistant coach UNLV
1981-87: ???
1987: scout Kings (might have started a few years earlier to close gap)
1988-90: scout Hawks
1990-91: assistant coach Kings
1991-92: head coach Kings
1992-93: assistant coach Spurs
1993-95:??? (time off maybe)
1996-97: assistant coach Vancoiver
1998-99: ?? (time off maybe)
1999-00: Orlando front office
2000-onward: possibly retired. Would have been 62 in 2000.

That's reasonably compelte. Might like to know when he first got hired by the Kings as a part time scout, but I can roll with what we have there. Thanks for the help!
 
#9
Hello

According to this blog (in dutch) he was the first Americain player in Belgium Basketball competition in 1963.
He played with BBC Athlon Ieper. He also did PR there and was a youth coach.

Best regards from Belgium

David Dewaele




http://75jaarpicanolgroup.blogspot....amerikaanse-basketspeler-in.html#comment-form


maandag 5 september 2011
De eerste Amerikaanse basketspeler in de Belgische competitie

In 1960 huldigt Athlon-voorzitter Jules Bastil het ‘Bernard Steverlynck terrein’ in de Kruisstraat in. In het seizoen ’60-’61 treedt de basketbalploeg voor het eerst aan onder de naam BBC Athlon Ieper, na de samensmelting tussen BBC Ieper en Athlon. Athlon Ieper werd oorspronkelijk opgericht als atletiekvereniging, vandaar ook de naam Athlon (‘athl’ van at(h)letiek en ‘lon’ van Picanol). Naar aanleiding van de eerstesteenlegging van de nieuwe overdekte sporthal organiseert de ploeg eind 1961 een heus basketbalfestival. Op 11 november volgt dan de officiële inhuldiging van de ‘Bernard Steverlynck sporthalle’, genoemd naar erevoorzitter en oprichter Bernard Steverlynck. Voortaan zal de basketbalploeg de thuiswedstrijden op een overdekt veld in de Kruisstraat kunnen spelen. Dat BBC Athlon Ieper een grote uitstraling heeft, blijkt ook uit de interesse van buitenlandse spelers om uit te komen voor de ploeg. In 1963 kwam Rex Hughes de ploeg versterken, meteen ook de eerste Amerikaanse speler in de Belgische competitie. Hughes komt over van de universitaire ploeg van NCAA-West (Los Angeles) waar hij kampioen werd. Hij is 1m94, heeft een moordend jumpshot, is een uitstekende verdediger en blinkt uit bij de rebounds. Op 4 september 1963 kwam hij de PR-dienst en de basketbalploeg versterken. Hij wordt meteen ook aangesteld als jeugdtrainer. Daarnaast is BBC Athlon in 1963 ook de eerste ploeg in België, en misschien in Europa, die het laatste Amerikaanse snufje op gebied van sport- en basketballtraining bezit: de automatische Mc Call Rebounder. Dit toestel helpt de reboundtechniek van spelers heel snel te verbeteren.
(foto: Rex Hughes wordt ontvangen door Ivan Lambeets)