Trévon Hughes was a tremendous offensive and defensive guard for Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers. Standing at just 6 feet tall, Hughes was one of the shortest, but quickest guards of Bo Ryan’s tenure. He was explosive, good in transition, and had an equally good pull-up jumper.
He was a stat sheet stuffer and Wisconsin’s iron man (started 100 straight games) from the 2007 season through the 2009 season. In fact, over his 3 seasons as a starter, he never averaged less than 10 points, 1.5 steals, 2 assists, and 3 rebounds. He was also the team leader in steals and was the second leading scorer for three consecutive seasons.
As a sophomore, Hughes’ first season as a starter, he scored 11 ppg, and as a junior, he scored 12 points per game. Hughes was named an All-Big 10 Honorable Mention for both his sophomore and junior campaigns. When he became a senior, his offensive game made a big leap to averages of 15 ppg and 2.5 assists. He also recorded nearly 5 rebounds and 2 steals per game. For his superb production, Hughes was rightfully named to the All-Big 10 2nd Team and the All-Big 10 defensive team.
So his stats are impressive on both sides of the ball. But the real reason Hughes is this high on the list is for his ability to step up in big games and in bigger moments. First, in 2008, Wisconsin faced Michael Beasley and Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Up to that point, it was the biggest game of Hughes’s life. And he responded with a career high and game high 25 points.
In 2009, his junior season, Hughes had two very clutch shots. The first was on the road in the Big 10/ACC Challenge against Seth Greenberg’s Virginia Tech Hokies. With just seconds on the clock, Hughes pulled up and broke the deadlock. Without that win, Wisconsin probably wouldn’t have gotten into the tournament that year.
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But his biggest shot came in the NCAA tournament round of 64 against 5-seed Florida State. With 2 seconds left in a tied overtime game, Hughes spun into the lane and hit the tournament game-winner, a play good enough to be featured on One Shining Moment. He then had 17 points in a second round exit versus Xavier.
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In 2009, Hughes continued his big game heroics with a game high 26 points in a win against #5 in the country Duke, one of the most fondly remembered regular season games in Badger history. Too bad we didn’t have him in the National Championship game.
He also built on his impressive play in the tournament with 19 points in a 4-point victory over Wofford in the first round, which included some impressive late game buckets.
Not only did Trévon Hughes put up very gaudy numbers as Bo Ryan’s point guard, but he was very clutch, and he always stepped up when he was most needed.
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