He attended Five Star basketball Camp in Western Pennsylvania and was named MVP twice, and was also selected to the Nike All American 50.

He was a first round draft pick for the Jersey Shore Summer Basketball League (JSBL) and led in scoring and rebounds from 1984 to 1986.

[1] Hughes began his international career in 1992 with the Argentine Club, Banco De Cordoba in Provincia, averaging 27 ppg and 10 rpg.

[citation needed] After the team folded in 1993, he played in 2 games for Italy's Pallacanestro Viola in Reggio Calabria as a replacement player.

[citation needed] During the 1993–94 season, Hughes played four games in Turkey for Galatasaray Medical Park, averaging 18.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.

[2] Hughes started the 1996–97 season with French team Saint-Brieuc, where he played seven games and averaged 19.4 points and 12.3 rebounds.

[2] For the 1999–2000 season, Hughes joined Cherno More in Bulgaria and played in the Saporta Cup, where he led the competition in steals with 4.6 per game.

[2] Hughes joined Koper mladi in Slovenia for the 2001–02 season, but left the team in December due to a knee injury.