Saint Louis Billikens Reportedly Courting Ex-Missouri Tigers Guard Frankie Hughes
It appears as if Travis Ford might be luring another Division I transfer to SLU.
Saint Louis Billikens coach Travis Ford has earned widespread acclaim for the recruiting job he’s done in just over a year with the Billikens. That’s particularly been the case for the Division I transfers that he’s been able to lure to the Gateway to the West, and it appears that he might be bringing in another one of those players.
As Frank Cusumano of KSDK in St. Louis reported on Twitter Wednesday morning, the Billikens are talking to guard Frankie Hughes, who decided to leave the University of Missouri after just one season:
Frankie Hughes, who is leaving @MizzouHoops, is talking with @SaintLouisMBB @KSDKSports
— Frank Cusumano (@Frank_Cusumano) April 19, 2017
Gut feel: @SaintLouisMBB will be able to take either Frankie Hughes, @MizzouHoops transfer or Javon Pickett, the Belleville East Star.
— Frank Cusumano (@Frank_Cusumano) April 19, 2017
Cusumano also references Javon Pickett, a three-star guard from Belleville East, who has offers from numerous mid-majors across the Midwest and recently picked up an offer from SLU.
The Billikens have two open scholarships for the 2017-18 season, though there’s a very high possibility that Aaron Hines–a walk-on who served as the team’s starting point guard for most of the ’16-’17 season–will receive one of them. Since the team already has two commits for the 2018-19 season, forward Carte’are Gordon and guard Fred Thatch–they must seriously debate whether it makes sense to fill both of the open scholarships for the coming season.
Hughes, a 6-foot-4, 192-pound guard from Cleveland, was arguably the Tigers’ best player during the 2016-17 season, not that it was a massive accomplishment on a hapless Mizzou squad. He played 20 minutes or more in 17 games, and he had double-digit points in eight of those games. That included three 20-plus-point performances, including two in his first two collegiate games. He also showed the ability to be a capable rebounder.
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With that said, he did seem to butt heads with head coach Kim Anderson more than a few times, returning late after the team’s Christmas break and then being benched upon his return. It will be up to the Billikens’ staff to determine whether any potential character concerns have merit.