FROM THE PRESS BOX: MIKE HUGHES BUILT FOUNDATION OF WAVERLY GIRLS BASKETBALL PROGRAM (2021-08-10)

The older you get, the more death plays a part in your life.

In the past 10 years, I've lost aunts and uncles, high school and college friends, former teachers and coaches, and my father.

On Sunday, while sitting on the tarmac at the Orlando Airport, my wife Nikki and I found out her uncle "” former Waverly girls basketball coach Mike Hughes - had died.

It was like a gut punch for me. It hit me much harder than any other, aside from my father's and my uncle's.

Long before Nikki and I were married, and even before Hughes had built the foundation of a Waverly girls program that has become one of the best in Section IV, he was my coach.

For two years in the late "˜70s, Hughes coached a rag-tag bunch of 7th- and 8th-graders on the Waverly Rec. Gold team, and turned us into league champions.

Hughes was a hard-ass, but he knew the game, and he had a knack of getting the best out of his players because he could communicate his ideas and his philosophy of the game - even to 12- and 13-year-olds.

He definitely was able to get more out of me than any other coach. He was the best coach I ever played for.

Hughes, a 1967 Waverly grad, took the helm of the Waverly girls program prior to the 1982-83 season. The Lady Wolverines were coming off consecutive losing seasons (and a combined record of 5-15). After a 7-11 record in his initial season, he directed them to a 9-9 mark in his second.

After an 8-12 record in 1984-85, Hughes guided the Lady Wolverines to seven winning seasons in the next eight, winning an NTL title in 1986-87, and six IAC division titles - and three overall IAC titles - in Waverly's first seven years in the league.

The Lady Wolverines posted a 21-1 record in 1987-88, winning their first 21 games before losing in the Section 4, Class C semifinals.

The following year, Waverly was 22-3 and won the program's first-ever Section IV title.

After a 10-11 season in 1989-90, Waverly won the last four of Hughes' six IAC division titles.

In his final three seasons, Hughes' teams were 30-31. He hung up his whistle after the 1996-97 season. He posted a career record of 203-109 in 15 years seasons on the bench.

The key to Hughes' success was he built the program from the ground up. He recruited Dick Nusbaum, Jim Birney, who was his longtime JV coach, and several others, including Bill Wallace, and Bob Patterson to coach at the elementary level.

Hughes helped mold the Waverly girls as basketball players from the time they were in second- or third-grade. That model carried on at Waverly for more than 20 years.

Hughes handed the torch to a young Brian Miller, who would build off Hughes' success, winning a pair of Section IV titles. and winning 252 games in 16 seasons.

I knew Mike Hughes for 40-plus years. I played a lot of golf with him, and drank more than a couple of adult beverages with him. I had many, many laughs with him, and his brother Bob.

He was a hell of a basketball coach and a very good friend, but he was an even better person.

A decorated and proud veteran of the Vietnam War, Mike Hughes will be missed.