In 1968–1969, Hughes was head coach at Long Beach City College, his first collegiate job after coaching in high school. His squad finished 23–5. When Hughes left to be an assistant at Nebraska, he was replaced by Lute Olson, in his first collegiate job.[5][6]
Replacing Frank Truitt at Kent State University in 1974, Hughes' teams went 6–20, 12–14 and 8–19 over the next three seasons. The team started 1–10 in 1977–1978, when he was replaced by Mike Boyd.[7]
In 1978–1979, Hughes was head coach and general manager of the Montana Sky (Great Falls, Montana) in the short-lived Western Basketball Association. The Sky were co-owned by country singer Charlie Pride. Notably, Hughes had Cazzie Russell and Brad Davis on the roster. Hughes was hired by the Sky mid-season when Coach Bill Klukas was fired after a 3–17 start. The league folded after one season.[8][9]
[10]
In 1991–1992 Hughes served as an assistant coach under Dick Motta with the Sacramento Kings and went 22–35 in 57 games, replacing Motta as head coach after Motta was fired.[11][12][13]
In 1992–1993, Hughes was hired to serve as an assistant coach to Jerry Tarkanian with the San Antonio Spurs. However, just 20 games into the season at 9–11, Tarkanian was fired. Hughes was 1–0 as interim head coach before John Lucas (39–22) was hired.[14]
