Fast breaking on the South Avenue Morning News, anchored and produced by Mr. Burke and Co., Beaconite Elijah Hughes, who went to South Avenue Elementary and Beacon High School, has been selected by the Utah Jazz in a 2nd round NBA Draft pick as the 39th pick held on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 (delayed from the summer due to the pandemic). First selected by the New Orleans Pelicans as the 9th pick, of which they traded, leading to the 39th of 60 picks overall (for those who like numbers), according to the Highlands Current.

Elijah was a “small forward” at 6’6” but in High School, he played in the point guard position, which requires a lot of speed, quick shots, and quick thinking. According to Wikipedia, Elijah “became well-known in Beacon for his basketball ability, dominating games at Loopers Park.” Loopers Park is the basketball court between Loopers Plaza (Beacon Dental) and South Avenue Elementary School. There is also a tennis court next to the basketball courts.

As An Aside: There have been recent requests to enable night lighting for evening basketball games, especially as days are so short in winter. Other sports fields in Beacon have such lighting, including baseball and soccer fields at Memorial Park.

Local Praise For Elijah Hughes By Friends In Beacon

Elijah is being praised by everyone in the media since the draft pick as being a good person, and for being involved in community. Says one of Elijah’s earliest coaches, Ken Dawson, founder of The Player Academy, “It’s more important to be a good person than a good basketball player,” Ken told the Highlands Current. “He was in the 3rd or 4th grade when he came to Playmakers, and Dawson remembers him well. ‘Elijah loved to work; he was coachable,’ he said. ‘And he was a very good person.’”

Says a friend and former councilmember of Beacon’s City Council, Ali Tawfiq Muhammad, of his early memories of Elijah: “He went to Beacon Recreation Camp with his sister Talah when he was a kid and I was a counselor in training back then. That was my first job as a public servant and got hired seasonally for the next 5 years. Elijah and I grew as friends, and as he grew older, reached out from time to time. We had a bond. His sister Talah is one of my mentees. Elijah’s played a couple games in my Summer Basketball League, the Terrence Wright League, on my team, so yes I’ve technically coached him, but he’s always been a superstar in the making, and he’s actually helped me learn more about basketball just from watching and having conversations with him. He’s a natural leader and has co-started an organization with his friends this year called the Label Foundation, which I’ve helped him and his friends incorporate and set up the organizational structure. Long story short, we’re good friends. Utah also happens to be my favorite team in the NBA, since forever.”

You can watch more of the founding members of the Label Foundation here to hear their stories and get to know what drives them.

Rueben Simmons, one-time Superintendent of the Highway Department, and current worker in the Highway Department, is known as Coach Yogi in Beacon for his coaching of various teams in Beacon. Reuben had this to say when A Little Beacon Blog asked if he had ever coached Elijah: “No, I did not have the pleasure too. He would have been a top pick of mine had I got the opportunity, based off his on court awareness of the game. I was a coach in the Beacon Hoops program and I remember seeing Elijah at evaluations. He was young and his basketball IQ was beyond his age. He stood out from every kid in his age bracket, as well as kids in the older division. I remember his dad being there, and my first thought was that I hope he’s not coaching because under the family rule, his dad would get Elijah automatically.”

Elijah’s Early Support For BLM, And Participation In Protests and Volunteering

Elijah participated in one of the first protests in Beacon, which marched down Main Street and ended at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park. He told Mike Waters of Syracuse.com back in June 2020:

“I think it was super important to be there,” Hughes said. “Number, one, I’m a Black man. It could’ve been me or one of my friends or someone in my family. I know what’s going on and it’s not OK. I wanted to walk for George Floyd. I wanted to show up and be there.

“Growing up, my parents instilled in me that, being a Black man in America, nothing’s going to be easy," Hughes said. "Knowing that we’re living in a racist world and not everybody’s going to like you because of the color of your skin.

“I’ve had talked with my parents about using my voice," he added. “I can lead something and do something big.

“Everything against Black people and police brutality and discrimination in general was on my mind and in my heart," Hughes said. "It’s a scary time. You don’t really know. Someone like me can get pulled over and it could be my last time ever. It’s a scary time we’re in, especially for Black people.

“At the end of the day, it was a very peaceful protest. We marched for George Floyd and all the Black lives we’ve lost in the last few years to police brutality. We just want a change.”

Also according to the article, Elijah tackled racism on his campus by being an outspoken voice during the student-led #NotAgainSU protests at Syracuse University. The protests were in response to several racist graffiti tags and other incidents at the university, resulting in dissatisfaction with the Chancellor Kent Syverud’s handling - or lack of handling - of the incidents.

Elijah had the idea to wear t-shirts to show support and solidarity with the student protesters. He told Syracuse.com: '“After visiting with student protesters over the weekend and communicating with some during the week, Hughes said he went to his teammates with the idea to wear #NotAgainSU T-shirts before the game against Cornell to support the school’s protest movement.

“‘I’ve been in contact with a few of the protesters,’ Hughes said. ‘It’s something I thought about. ... When I brought it up, everyone bought in. We decided to do it as a team. I talked to one of the students during the protest and threw my thoughts out. I came up with the idea of the T-shirts, talked to the team and they were all in. I laid it out to Coach (Jim Boeheim) and he talked to people and we made it happen.’"

The Celebration

Go watch this video capturing Elijah’s Draft Day of the NBA Draft Pick as he prepared, played basketball, got a slice from Sal’s, drove through Beacon, and ended the day at Carters (formerly The Hotel Beacon) where he watched the NBA Draft with this family.

Follow Elijah Hughes on his Instagram, his Twitter and the Label Foundation.