Jan. 18, 2005
Philadelphia, Pa. -
Former UVa defenseman Brett Hughes was selected with the first overall pick by the New Jersey Pride in the Major League Lacrosse supplemental draft Friday night (Jan. 15) at the Philadelphia Marriott and Convention Center.
He likely would have been a top-five choice in the collegiate draft last summer were it not for an injury that required surgery following UVa's season.
Currently as assistant on Dom Starsia's staff at UVa, Hughes was a mainstay of the Cavalier defense throughout his career and will be remembered as one of the best close defensemen in UVa history.
He started all 59 games, a record for a UVa d-man and finished ninth among UVa defensemen with 185 ground balls. He earned second-team All-American honors in 2003 and 2004, one of just 10 UVa defensemen named first- or second-team more than once.
A native of Upper Arlington, Ohio, he received his degree in sociology earlier this month.
"I am so happy,'' Hughes said on the team's official website NewJerseyPride.com. "The most important thing for me was getting my body right, and I think that now that I have that, I am going to be able to come in and do some good things for the team, and do whatever is asked of me."
Hughes joins former UVa standout David Curry on the Pride.
Several other former Cavaliers were chosen in the supplemental draft. Billy Glading, a standout midfielder on UVa's 2003 national championship team, was selected three picks after Hughes by the Philadelphia Barrage, while longstick midfielder Trey Whitty, also a star on the '03 title team, was chosen in the second round by the Boston Cannons. UVa's all-time leading scorer, Doug Knight, was selected in the seventh round by the Barrage. Knight, who spent several seasons with the Cannnons, currently teaches at The Haverford School where he is on the coaching staff of the lacrosse and hockey teams. Jamison Mullen, a member of UVa's 1999 championship squad and a member of the Baltimore Bayhawks practice squad last season, was picked by the Bayhawks in the 12th round.
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