ALTOONA, Pa. -- John Hugley made huge strides from year one to year two for Pitt, and the forward still has a lot more potential upside to reach in his college career.
Hugley will get an opportunity to expand his game, learn new things and see the world thanks to an honor that's come his way. He has been selected to play for the East Coast All-Stars on a trip to Barcelona, Spain next month, competing in three friendly contests against players from Spain's Liga ACB.
“I am looking forward to building relationships with a group of new guys and going out their to showcase my talent and have fun,” Hugley said in a statement from Pitt. “Playing the international game will be good experience defending different actions, closing out to shooters even more and playing harder defense. I am also looking forward to learning more about the 1992 Dream Team and their time in Barcelona. I know they changed the game a lot on the international stage so I am excited to learn more about them.”
Hugley led Pitt in scoring last season at 14.8 points per game, to go along with 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32 games (31 starts) as a sophomore. Those numbers were significanly better than his freshman season, when he played seven games (one start) and averaged 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Hugley, an honorable mention all-ACC selection last season, will take part in a two-day training camp at Columbia University on Aug. 1-2, then depart for Barcelona. During the trip, according to Pitt's press release, the players "will follow in the footsteps of the 1992 USA Dream Team with activities, time with some of the participants."
Hugley will be joined on the East Coast All-Stars by: Ethan Morton (Purdue), Jaylen Blakes (Duke), Cinque Stephens (NYU), Jaden Bobbett (Middlebury), Allyn Breed (Providence), Shamir Bogues (Tarleton), KJ Simpson (Colorado), Logan Alters (California), Brandon Newman (Purdue), JR Konieczny (Notre Dame), Jarrett Hensley (Cincinnati), Bennie Williams (Syracuse), and Raphael Castro (Providence).
The head coach of the team will be Alex Jenson, an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz.
More about the team and the trip, from Pitt's release:
The trip to Barcelona was created by USA East Coast Basketball Director Guy Rancourt, in conjunction with Moneyball Sportsware, Cleveland Brothers-CAT, and Anthony Travel,to honor the 1992 Dream Team’s accomplishments. The Dream Team, featuring NBA legends Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Larry Bird (among others), rolled through the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and created a global phenomenon that greatly advanced the game of basketball.
