CourtKings announce Hughes as head coach

WATERLOO - When radio host and voice of Northern Iowa sports Gary Rima announced the creation of his Midwest Basketball League team, the Cedar Valley CourtKings, he brought with it a message of creating opportunities for young basketball players who want to continue or further their careers.

He continued that message and path on Monday with the announcement of Stan Hughes as the CourtKings' head coach.

Hughes, who comes to Waterloo by way of Louisville and Washington, D.C., is a man Rima considers a builder of programs - evidenced by his creation of the basketball team at Quakerdale Academy, a prep school in New Providence. Hughes led Quakerdale to back-to-back prep school national championships.

He and Rima said Monday they share a vision of helping young players while also building a winning MBL team in Waterloo/Cedar Falls.

'He's the perfect guy for this team - a perfect fit,” Rima said. 'Stan is the perfect guy to help us get this thing running, get players, get this thing done the right way. He's done that before with teams and has been very successful.

'He and I have the exact same vision for this team - for the players, what we want to try and help the players do.”

Hughes also is credited with restarting the basketball program at Simmons College in Louisville - a program that had been dormant for 88 years before its second incarnation.

He's been involved in a number of philanthropic ventures to help young kids through sports, and the chance to build the CourtKings from the ground up was a chance he didn't want to pass up.

'I like to start at the bottom and work my way up. I'm not a person who wants the microwave effect. I want you to see what it is I can do,” Hughes said. 'Once I show you what it is I can do, you won't have any questions. If I prove myself, I think that's success. For me, success is not extravagant things. If we can get a guy on this team that has some other type of issues and we can correct those issues off the court, as well as on the court, that's a success for me.”

Rima, who serves as the team's owner and general manager, said he and Hughes will work hand-in-hand to build the roster around a particular style of play. They also want to call on players from the major programs in Iowa - it's certainly not specific to Northern Iowa alums, Rima said - as well as nationally, with Hughes' connections from his AAU coaching days in Washington, D.C.

'It's an entry-level, developmental league - an exposure league,” Rima said. 'We want to get them exposure and see if we can get them to a higher level.”

Hughes said he wants to mold the CourtKings after the way Gregg Popovich has built the San Antonio Spurs in terms of offensive makeup and playing style. The pair said they hope to start that process with a 'big announcement” of a signing in the next week or so.

Until then, they shared their vision for what the program can do for its players - both on and off the court.

'We're going to try to get players from all over,” Hughes said. 'Of course it would be great if we had all Iowa players - to build a nice little following. But to be fair to ourselves, it's best to open it up to the whole country, basically. … I don't want us to cut ourselves short.

'We're going to do the best we can to get (the players) in a better situation. It's not about us, it's about trying to help some guys with a dream they'd like to accomplish, but they don't have the proper channels to turn to for that help. We're hoping we can be that.”

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