Auburn women's basketball staff is hoping its recent hiring of former NBA assistant coach Otis Hughley can take the Tigers to the next level.
Hughley joins head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy's staff as a special assistant to the head coach.
"Otis brings a wealth of basketball knowledge to our staff," Williams-Flournoy said. "Having coached at so many levels, his expertise will be very valuable to me as my special assistant."
Hughley is an Atlanta native and graduated from the University of West Alabama in 1987. Hughley and his wife, Valerie, have four kids — Jeremiah, Trinitee, Heavyn and Joshua.
His basketball roots run incredibly deep, and he brings a unique perspective to the game as he has coached at all levels of the game.
Hughley got his start working at the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Wright State, Liberty and Southern. His first head coaching gig was at Wallace State-Selma from 1993-1997.
Hughley then spent seven years as the boys' basketball head coach at LeFlore High School in Mobile from 2004-2010, where he guided the team to six state finals appearances and the Class 6A state title in 2007. While at LeFlore, Hughley coached former Kentucky and current NBA star DeMarcus Cousins from 2007-09. The team finished 59-6 during Cousins' two years.
During Hughley's success at LeFlore, he also worked as a coach of the NBA China program and worked over 10 years at Pete Newell's "Big Man Camp."
Hughley was hired by the Sacramento Kings in 2010 and was an assistant coach for the Kings from 2010-12. While with the Kings, he was reunited with Cousins.
Most recently, Hughley has coached on the global scale. He was the head coach of the Women's Chinese Taipei National Team in 2015 and led them to a fourth-place finish in the FIBA Asia Women's championship.
In the fall of 2018, Hughley served as the head coach of the Nigeria Women's team for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.
He led the team to a historic result as the D'Tigress not only became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals in tournament history, but also won their first game in tournament history.
Hughley and the D'Tigress got a special shoutout following the tournament from Hughley's former pupil Cousins.
Hughley brings his experience to a surging Auburn team that is currently 14-3 (2-2 in SEC). Combining Hughley's experience with Flournoy's adds to a talented coaching staff that looks continue to keep the Tigers competitive in a tough SEC.
"I am very excited to be here at Auburn and to be working for COACH Terri Williams-Flournoy," Hughley said. "War Eagle!"
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