Hall of Fame
An institution with EKU Athletics for decades, Turkey Hughes held several posts during his affiliation with the University. Considered one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s Founding Fathers, Hughes is a member of both the OVC and Kentucky Athletic Halls of Fame.
He was responsible for restarting the EKU Athletics Department following World War II. Hughes coached football, men’s basketball, tennis and track from 1929 until 1934. He also coached all of those sports, except football, in 1935.
Hughes took over the reigns of the baseball program in 1941 and coached until 1971. Also during that time period, Hughes served as Director of Athletics (1942-61) and chaired the Department of Health and Physical Education for 27 years. EKU’s baseball field is named in his honor.
In the early 1920s, Hughes was a star in football, basketball, baseball and track at the University of Kentucky. He set a national football record with a 98-yard interception return against Alabama in 1924.
