Brush grad Hugley facing felony charges

Hugley, a freshman from Brush, was suspended indefinitely by the school for disciplinary reasons after he was charged with three felonies from an incident last summer.

John Hugley’s promising start to his basketball career at the University of Pittsburgh took a hit this week.

Now his status as a Division I college basketball player could be in question.

On Jan. 15, Hugley, a freshman from Brush, was suspended indefinitely by the school for disciplinary reasons after he was charged with three felonies from an incident last summer.

Hugley is facing two felony criminal conspiracy charges plus another felony count of receiving stolen property, according to a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 14.

A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 18. The complaint alleges Hugley was one of two men who entered a car without permission in the early hours of July 19 while the person responsible for the vehicle was sleeping.

The car was reported stolen later in the day before being recovered on Aug. 4.

The 6-foot-9 post player was contributing as a freshman for the Panthers this season. Hugley had played double-digit minutes in every game he played.

Against Louisville on Dec. 22 — Hugley’s last game — he had seven points and seven rebounds.

He’s averaging 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in seven games. Hugley also reportedly missed one game because of novel coronavirus protocols.

The Panthers played their first game since Jan. 6 when they defeated Syracuse, 96-76, on Jan. 16. Panthers coach Jeff Capel said this when asked about Hugley following the win:

“I’m not able to talk about that,” he said. “I’m not going to talk about that. I’m going to talk about our game and our win and our next opponent if anyone wants to ask about that.”

Hugley was a highly ranked post player out of Brush after he amassed 1,660 career points and 1,170 rebounds. In 201920, he was the winner of The News-Herald’s Clark Kellogg Award, given to the area’s top boys basketball player.

Last season as a high school senior, he averaged 24.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 blocks for the 19-6 Arcs, who lost in a Division I district final to Mentor.

Hugley