Former Miner Hughes Set To Pursue Professional Career
EL PASO, TEXAS- Former UTEP women?s basketball star Jareica Hughes is poised to make her debut in the professional ranks as a member of Lider Pruszkow, which competes at the highest level in Poland. Hughes will square off against former Miner standout and teammate Kasia Krezel, who plays on Can-Pack Krakow, in her initial game on Friday. She will then lock up against another former UTEP great and teammate Izabela Piekarska, who is a member of AZS PWSZ Gorzow, in her second contest on Sunday.
?We?re excited for Jareica to have the opportunity to start her professional career,? UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. ?It is always thrilling for us to see our players go on to play at the next level.?
Hughes will become the 15th individual to have been mentored by Adams to go on to play professional basketball. She also earned her undergraduate degree at UTEP. Every player who has exhausted her eligibility during the Adams era has graduated.
Hughes was a four-year standout for the Miners (2006-07 through 2009-10), guiding them to a stout mark of 84-39. Aiding the stretch was a school-record three straight winning seasons, including back-to-back 20-plus victory campaigns as a freshman and sophomore.
UTEP was 28-4 in 2007-08, including an unprecedented 16-0 in C-USA play to claim the program?s first league championship. The Miners were nationally-ranked for the final six weeks of season and advanced to the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
The native of Southfield, Mich., burst onto the scene as the 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year before garnering back-to-back league Player of the Year awards. She is one of two players in the history of C-USA to have registered career totals of more than 1,500 points, 570 assists and 270 steals.
Hughes was a four-time all-league honoree-one of five individuals in C-USA annals to do so. She currently holds nine career records at UTEP. They are in the form of assists (599), field-goals made (527), free-throws made (359) and attempted (492), minutes played (3,777), points (1,555), starts (114), steals (277) and wins (84).
