Sporting his Naismith Hall of Fame jacket, Dunbar legend Robert Hughes honored by UIL

The UIL honored the 1993 Fort Worth Dunbar basketball team Saturday night, but the Wildcats legendary coach drew the biggest applause from fans at the Alamodome.

The '93 team was Hughes' 10th squad to reach the state tournament, but his first to finally win it all.

"We were young, so we kind of felt the pressure a little bit," said Charles Smith, Dunbar's best player that year, and a future NBA player. "We never kind of felt like we were going to lose."

The Wildcats trailed Houston Milby by 15 in the Class 5A (now 6A) semifinal but won, 72-65. Dunbar beat Converse Judson, 74-64, for the title.

"We just wanted to win and that's the only thing we wanted to do that year," said Smith, who had a nine-year pro career. "We had a lot of focus."

Also, Saturday, the 1993 Class 3A champion Southlake Carroll team was also honored. The Dragons were led by coach Ken Cook, who also guided Carroll to the 1982 state baseball title. He was also defensive coordinator on three championship football teams at Carroll.

"We have legendary coaches on each side of the court, and two legendary teams that gave us a lot of memories," said Charles Breithaupt, the UIL executive director.

Smith also credits a 1992 regional final loss to Fort Worth Wyatt as added motivation for '93.

"In '93 we knew we had to get it done, because if we didn't that was it," Smith said. "It was fun, it was so much fun."

This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Sporting his Naismith Hall of Fame jacket, Dunbar legend Robert Hughes honored by UIL."