Erin Hughes is in her third season as the women’s basketball assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
Hughes joined the coaching staff after graduating from W&L in May 2021 following a four-year career on the women’s basketball team that was capped off with WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors as a senior. A two-year team captain, Hughes helped the program to a record of 59-30 (.663) and an ODAC Championship appearance in 2019. Hughes earned the ODAC’s first-ever Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019, and she was a three-time all-conference selection, including a first teamer her final two seasons. She finished her career with 1,027 points, the 13th-most in program history, and is the only player in program history to currently rank in the Top 10 in both career steals and blocks. Hughes also earned the W&L Athletic Department's Wink Glasgow Spirit & Sportsmanship Award following her senior season.
A 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Hughes was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, and was named the ODK National Leader of the Year for Athletics in May 2021. Hughes spent time as a volunteer tutor at Waddell Elementary School and a volunteer assistant coach at Rockbridge County High School in Lexington. She also served as an instructional assistant at Hill Learning Center in Raleigh, N.C., where she provided one-on-one assistance for students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD that required addition support in reading, writing and math.
Hughes also held various leadership roles on campus as a student. During her senior year, Hughes served as an ambassador for the Office of Inclusion and Engagement (OIE) where she led diversity training for first-year students and sorority women, as well as engaged in conversations across campus on topics related to diversity and inclusion. In November 2020, Hughes was the moderator for the "RISE: The Athlete Experience" virtual event that allowed six student-athletes of color to share their experiences at W&L and emphasize the importance of representation, inclusion, support and engagement.
Hughes is a graduate of the 2022 NCAA Women Coaches Academy Class #51. The NCAA Women Coaches Academy, hosted in partnership between WeCOACH and the NCAA, is a multi-day growth and development program available to NCAA coaches of all experience levels, designed for women coaches who are ready to increase their individual effectiveness by learning advanced skills and strategies that directly affect their personal and team success.
Hughes graduated with a bachelor’s degree in cognitive & behavioral sciences, with minors in women, gender & sexuality studies and poverty & human capability.
