Dallas Mavericks assistant slams Carroll ISD for dismissing basketball coaches
.png "Eric Hughes, an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, came to the defense of Southlake Carroll head coach David Markley.")
At the Carroll ISD School Board Special Meeting on Monday, May 5, multiple citizens of Southlake came to the defense of David Markley, a basketball coach who was relieved of his duties.
One of those citizens was Eric Hughes, an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks who has spent 38 years as a coach — the last 18 have been in the NBA.
“That by no means makes me an expert on basketball,” Hughes said. “But I think it gives me the qualifications to tell you what a good basketball coach is.”
Hughes said that he and his sons, both students in Carroll ISD, entrenched themselves within Dragon basketball because of Markley, the 2025 District 4-6A Coach of the Year, and Dustin Burchfield, an assistant coach.
“We went to practices, we went to games, we went and shot whenever we could,” Hughes said. “Because we feel like this is a community that loves basketball — is learning to love basketball and needs to get better at it. And [Markley and Burchfield] put their heart and soul into everything that had to do with basketball.”
Hughes said, considering Markley and Burchfield’s positive impact, that the way they were dismissed on short notice was disrespectful.
“It’s just not right,” Hughes said. “And we’re really losing out on these two guys being able to coach our kids.”
Hughes ended his speech by saying that, throughout his childhood, he was greatly impacted when he head his father say, “I’m disappointed in you.” He shared a similar sentiment toward Carroll ISD with the hopes they would take his words to heart.
“Whoever made this decision about these basketball coaches — you should be really disappointed,” Hughes said.
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM.
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