Eddie Hughes

Five seasons in the CBA came before Eddie Hughes ever set foot on an NBA floor. The 5-foot-10 point guard from Greenville, Mississippi played his college ball at Colorado State, went in the seventh round of the 1982 draft to San Diego, and kept grinding in the minors — making the CBA All-Defensive First Team in 1984 — until the Jazz finally called in 1987.

His Utah stay lasted 11 games, followed by 86 more with Denver through 1990. For a guard his size, in that era, simply reaching the league at all was the achievement.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah signed and waived him five separate times between 1986 and 1988 in its long search for a Stockton backup. The last of them came on December 27, 1988.

Utah Jazz tenure

1987–88

Position

Guard

Born

1960, Greenville, Mississippi

Height

5′10″ (178 cm)

Weight

165 lb (75 kg)

College

Colorado State

Drafted

undrafted

Why this player is hard to find

Eleven games for the Jazz. Only unsigned promotional cards from his Denver years are known to exist.