John Hugley entered his sophomore season at Pitt with high expectations, and while Pitt wasn’t able to rise to many offseason expectations, Hugley was one of the few bright spots at the Petersen Events Center this winter.
The former Top-100 recruit from the class of 2020 suffered through a tough freshman season, but his sophomore leap proved that Hugley has what it takes to compete with the best the ACC has to offer.
Hugley wasn’t named to an All-ACC team, but he did earn an honorable mention — the only Pitt player to be named to any conference honors.
Hugley played in all 31 games for Pitt this season, one of four players to do so, and he led the team in points, rebounds and field goal percentage. With 14.7 points on 46.7 percent shooting from the field, he stepped up as Pitt’s top scorer. And with 7.9 rebounds per game, he provided an offensive and defensive presence in grabbing nearly three offensive and five defense boards per game.
Hugley’s all-around game, roughly 15 points, eight rebounds and an assist per game, showed consistency as the season wore on. And with the ACC Tournament beginning this week, he could have just one more chance to leave an impact on his sophomore season.
Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams earned Player of the Year honors, Duke’s Paolo Banchero earned Rookie of the Year honors and Duke’s Mark Williams earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes was named the Coach of the Year in the conference, and Most Improved Player went to North Carolina State’s Dareon Seabron and Sixth Man of the Year went to Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland.
Hugley, for reference, tied for third in Most Improved Player voting — earning four votes.
The All-ACC first-team features Williams, Banchero, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, Miami’s Kameron McGusty and Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim.
Pitt’s 11-20 (6-14 ACC) record earned the 12th seed in the conference tournament this week. With a 12 vs. 13 matchup against Boston College on tap, the pair will kick off the tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn Tuesday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Pitt went split the 2021 season series, winning at home in early January and losing on the road later in the month. A win would mean a second round matchup against No. 5 Wake Forest later this week.
Capel wasn’t Coach of the Year? We wuz robbed!
Was, not wuz.
Hugley could be an all acc player if he dropped 30 pounds and weighed 240 as he did in H.S. and his freshman year. At 270 he cannot jump, limits his rebounds, run the courts, guard the hoop. He has a much higher skill set than DeJuan Blair but is underachieving because the coaching staff doesn’t demand more of him and he doesn’t have Blair’s temperament. Weight lose, someone to coac using his skills and somehow get a point guard. Better yet fire Capel and hire Orlando Antiqua.
Hugley has weighed 240 lbs. since December.