|
Indians honor Hughes
NEWBERRY:
Inducts Boiling Springs star into its Hall of Fame
By KEVIN MELTON
Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Former Boiling Springs standout Brandon Hughes was inducted into the Newberry College Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday
afternoon prior to the Indians' home opening football game against Chowan.
Hughes, who played point guard on the basketball team from 1996-2000, ranks 11th in school history in scoring with
1,420 points, and one of only 27 players to score over 1,000 points.
"It's a really big honor," Hughes said about the induction. "It's something I always wanted and hoped to get. I thought
I had a pretty good career."
Limited to only seven games during his freshman year due to a knee injury, Hughes made a name for himself leading the
South Atlantic Conference in steals and was in the top six in scoring over the rest of his career.
He netted 620 points during his senior year, scoring in double digits in every game played, and was a three-time All-SAC
first team selection.
Hughes said he credits former Newberry coach Grafton Young for giving him a chance at the college level, and former
Boiling Springs coach Dick Cox for developing his game.
"(Coach Young) was my coach all four years and was just a guy that gave me a shot coming out of high school," he said.
"I felt comfortable with him and he sold me on the program. Coach Cox also helped me tremendously."
Hughes went on to play professional basketball overseas in Dublin, Ireland
from 2000-2003.
"Big Al's Notre Dame was the club's name I was with," he said. "The first two seasons I averaged 30 points per game
and eight assists. It was definitely a big step coming from a small town like Boiling Springs and Newberry to a big city that
I didn't really know anyone in."
Hughes said his team faced 16 to 18 teams all over the country and played around 50 games a year.
Now living in Charleston, Hughes owns two personal
training facilities called "Top Shape", but said it was nice to get back home and share his accomplishment with family.
"I was looking forward to it," he said. "Especially since my mother and father were there."
|
March 11, 2007:
Bob Castello
FCA games begin with a bang
So much for the notion that two all-star events -- on back-to-back nights, no less -- might not be better than one.
The PAA Greenville County Senior Showcase was held Friday night at Woodmont High School, and more than 1,600 people showed
up to watch.
The Spartanburg vs. Greenville FCA All-Star Basketball Challenge was held Saturday night at USC Upstate, and about 1,500
people showed up to watch.
One of the neat things about the FCA games is that a precedent has been set. Next year, the Greenville girls will have
a greater desire to win, as will the Spartanburg boys.
Among the individuals who deserve praise are former Mauldin boys coach Oscar Neely. He was one of the founders of the PAA
games, and not even coaching the losing team Friday night could dampen his enthusiasm for what the event has become 11 years
later.
And Dick Cox, who coached high school and college basketball in the Upstate for years. He thought there were numerous players
in the Upstate who needed a platform beyond the North Carolina-South Carolina and North-South all-star games, and he was right.
He organized the FCA games and liked what he saw. The fans seemed to agree with him.
Perhaps the biggest winners this weekend were anyone involved with high school basketball in the Upstate.
One successful venture followed by another equals good vibes all around. |
Bennett lifts Greenville County in FCA Challenge
By
Bob Castello
STAFF WRITER
bcastell@greenvillenews.com
|
|
SPARTANBURG -- Berea's Carrio Bennett followed his normal plan of attack and got his team headed in the right direction.
Bennett scored 12 points in the first five minutes, and Greenville County went on to a 112-99 victory against Spartanburg
in the first Spartanburg vs. Greenville FCA All-Star Basketball Challenge at USC Upstate's Hodge Center on Saturday night.
"I usually always explode at the beginning of the game, and then kind of relax the rest of the game," said Bennett, who
finished with 29 points and was chosen his team's Most Valuable Player.
Bennett's early spurt helped Greenville to a 22-5 lead less than five minutes into the game.
After that, Bennett and Christ Church's Neal Moseley -- a pair of 6-foot guards -- led the way for Greenville.
"This was a lot of fun, because I know pretty much all my teammates, and I've played with them in the past," said Moseley,
who scored 23 points.
That helped, because Moseley never even practiced with his teammates. They had one practice, and he missed it.
Greenville was coach by Jonathan Neely, who played for his father, Jeff Neely, at Greer High. Bennett said Jonathan Neely
told the team to "have a lot of fun, score a lot of points and put on a show."
Greenville piled up points and put on a show offensively, and Moseley said it was largely because his team had an advantage
in the backcourt.
"I thought our guard play was a lot better than theirs," he said. "I didn't even practice with the team, and I thought
we did pretty well."
"I feel like we have better athletes," said Bennett. "They had a lot of big men, and Coach said, 'Run 'em.'"
Javirious Leamon of Travelers Rest, another cat-quick guard, scored 14 points for Greenville, and Carolina's 6-4 Marques
Williams, who runs the floor well, added 10 points.
Dorman's Jeremy Tucker led Spartanburg with 15 points. Boiling Springs' Kevin Shepps, named his team's MVP, and Gaffney's
Rodney Love scored 12 points each.
A crowd of about 1,500 took in the girls and boys games at the Hodge Center.
"I'm pretty pleased," said Dick Cox, the president of Cox Sports Broadcasting and the event's organizer. "We had a great
crowd and good ballgames. I think this can really be something good." |
New all-star basketball games pit Greenville County against other Upstate counties
By Bob Castello
STAFF WRITER
bcastell@greenvillenews.com
Dick Cox has been around the area long enough to have heard the debates.
"Having coached in the area for 25 years, we've always heard about the rivalry and who's got better basketball, Greenville
or Spartanburg," Cox said. "Now that I've got my own broadcasting company, I just came up with the idea to have games for
bragging rights."
So Cox, the president of Cox Sports Broadcasting initiated the Spartanburg vs. Greenville FCA All-Star Basketball Challenge,
an event that will include a girls game and a boys game.
Each game will match 15 top players from Greenville County against 15 from Spartanburg and Union counties and Gaffney.
The games are scheduled for March 10 (girls at 6 p.m., boys at 8) at the Hodge Center on the campus of USC Upstate and will
be broadcast on www.coxsportsbroadcasting.com.
"Having coached in the North-South all-star game, I think this thing's got the potential to be right along the same lines,
because there are so many good athletes that get overlooked for those games," said Cox, most recently the head boys coach
at Boiling Springs and a former assistant at both USC Upstate and Dorman.
Athletes who compete in the event still will be eligible for the North-South and North Carolina-South Carolina all-star
games. The NCAA allows high school athletes to play in two all-star games, Cox said.
Coaches will nominate players, and a selection committee will choose the rosters in the week following the regular season,
which ends Feb. 9.
"We want this to be first-class," Cox said. "We want to make it one of the top all-star events in the state of South Carolina."
|
