Robert Hughes, the all-time winningest coach in high school basketball history, died Wednesday at 96.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach led I.M. Terrell (Fort Worth, Texas), an all-Black school in the days of segregation, as well as
Dunbar (Fort Worth, Texas) during his 47-year tenure. He won five Texas state titles, 35 district titles and compiled a 1,333-265 record.
Hughes was enshrined in the Texas Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993, the High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He was the National Coach of the Year in 2003 and received the Morgan Wootten Lifetime Achievement Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
The Lone Star State legend had one losing year in 47 seasons on the sideline. He was born in Oklahoma in 1928 before playing college basketball at Texas Southern. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1955 but an Achilles injury ended his playing career.
After a stint in the Army, he began coaching at I.M. Terrell in 1958. When Terrell closed following integration, Hughes began coaching at Dunbar in 1973.
Hughes became known as the "Mayor of Stop Six," a nickname born from the neighborhood around Dunbar.
