BACK TO SAMPLES
by Roxanne Martinez
Unless, of course, you are living basketball legend Robert Hughes, head coach of Fort Worth Dunbar's boys basketball team. Hughes began the 2002-2003 season with a career record of 1,249-232, making him the nation's second winningest coach in high school basketball history.
Now, he has the chance to be No. 1. With the recent retirement of Morgan Wootten (1,274-192) of DeMatha Catholic School in Hyattsville, Md., who currently holds the coaching record, Hughes has the opportunity to become the nation's all-time winningest high school basketball coach this season.
Hughes says it will be "just another day" if he clenches the coaching record.
"When you've been in coaching as long as I have, when you win another game, you just win another game," he says.
With Dunbar's Wildcats ranked No. 1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 4A poll, Hughes says he expects to win at least 30 games this season. For now, that does not seem to be a problem. Currently at 24-1, Dunbar won the Class 5A division of the 45th Whataburger Boys Tournament by defeating nationally ranked Ouachita (La.) Parish in the championship game.
"We're going to run the floor and play with zest," Hughes says. "We just have to make sure the last few games are headed toward Austin. Anything less is not acceptable."
Hughes' attitude on losing helps explain his winning career. And his team is prepared for every game.
"I don't have much practice at losing and I don't intend to get any either," he says. "There's an opportunity to win in every ball game. If we fall short, it's not because of a lack of preparation."
Dunbar assistant basketball coach Charles Hickman, who played for Hughes as a student, says Hughes is a living legend. And he's not the only one who thinks so. Hughes has had a tribute entered into the Congressional Record for him twice, once in 1999 and another in 2001. Fort Worth, Tarrant County and Hughes' hometown of Sapulpa, Okla., have each proclaimed a day as "Robert Hughes Day."
"Everybody is in awe when they are around him," Hickman says. "Everybody always has a lot of good things to say about him."
Hickman also has a lot of confidence in Hughes' future.
"Not to sound boastful," Hickman says, "but expect wins, wins and more wins."
A member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Hughes has led his teams to 24 district championships, 24 bi-district titles and 11 regional championships.
Hughes also led his team to a state championship in 1993. In addition, he coached the West team in the 2001 McDonald's All-American game. Hughes, who has taught health and coached basketball at Dunbar for the past 29 years, coached 15 years at Fort Worth's I.M. Terrell High School before coaching at Dunbar.
Hughes credits his personality as a motivator for his teams. He says he tells his players that they must have the "intensity of fire" or they just cannot play.
"I try to instill in my players that regardless of what they do, it's about how much they are willing to put out to be the best," Hughes says. "It's about how hard they can push themselves to succeed. I tell them that the people who ignore pain and boredom will succeed because they don't do 'I'm tired' or 'I'm having a bad day,' they just work."
While Hughes says he does not demand his players dedicate themselves solely to basketball, his players respect him enough not to play any other sport.
"It really boils down to the level of competition," he says. "If there are two players with equal ability, the guy who stayed in the gym rather than playing football will be so far above the other one that they really can't compete."
Jeremis Smith, Dunbar junior forward, says Hughes is one of the most highly respected persons around campus.
"We look up to him," he says. "He's considered older and wiser."
Smith says Hughes often tells the team stories about past teams that were losing a game and how they came back to win. Sometimes he also tells his team old Western stories to motivate them.
Ben Asher, Dunbar senior guard, says Hughes is a laid back coach until something goes wrong.
"When I do something wrong, I'd rather them tell my momma than tell Coach Hughes," he says.
Asher also says Hughes can sometimes be stubborn.
"When he says something, that's what he means," Asher says.
While the 73-year-old coach's powerful presence and frank style has worked well with his teams, it also has gotten Hughes into some clashes with school officials and the University Interscholastic League.
For example, one year when Hughes was forced to share the gymnasium during his athletic period with a physical education class, Hughes threatened to retire. He said he would retire unless the other class was removed from the gym. They were gone.
"I still don't understand why they would do that," Hughes says. "I still haven't gotten over it."
Hughes has been cited by UIL officials twice for conducting practices outside designated times, once in 1987 and once in 1991. He was also suspended from one game in the 1995 semifinals for scheduling too many non-district games.
Hughes' 44 years with the Fort Worth Independent School District carries many memories. One of the most memorable games of Hughes' career was in December of 1984, when Dunbar met Verbun De High School of Los Angeles at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center in Fort Worth, according to Hughes.
"It was memorable because it was the biggest high school game at Wilkerson," Hughes says. "It changed school rules about ticket prices. The gymnasium holds 5,000 people and about 8,000 tickets were sold. The fire marshal was there and everything."
Dunbar went on to win the game 97-40.
Some of the outstanding athletes Hughes has coached include Charles "Spider" Smith of the Portland Trail Blazers, James Griffin, Robert Hughes, Jr., and Will Ashley, he says. Among his outstanding leaders are James Cash, Lee Shaw, Dave Payne, Sherman Evans, Ruben Russell and Clarence McHenry, according to Hughes.
Hughes attended Texas Southern University, where he played basketball, and was drafted by the Boston Celtics. Hughes left the NBA in 1955 and attended the University of Tulsa before moving to Fort Worth to coach high school basketball.
While Hughes says he does not have much free time, he is a prolific reader. Growing up without television, Hughes says he became interested in books. This past summer, Hughes read "The Burning" by Tim Madigan, a novel about race relations in Tulsa, Okla.
"I learned a lot of things I never knew about people that I know," Hughes says. "They had never talked about those things."
Hughes also finished reading "Ancient Greeks" and "Citizens Soldiers" this past summer.
Hughes and wife, Jacquelyne, have four children, two daughters and two sons, and five grandchildren.
In his 44th season, Hughes says he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
"When an engine is used to running at max, when you turn it off or put it in neutral, it just stops running," he says.
