New Haven native gives Elis dose of local flavor

Casey Hughes has spent all of his 21 years in New Haven, Conn., but he has led two different lives.

After growing up in Newhallville, a poor area of the city, he was heavily recruited by Yale, and is now a starting swingman for its basketball team. It may seem unremarkable at first glance, but Hughes is the first person in almost 25 years to do this.

"I'm from a pretty bad area," Hughes said. "It's about 10 minutes down the street, but it couldn't be farther away as environment goes."

Growing up in Newhallville - commonly called "The Ville" - he never envisioned himself going to nearby Yale. Hughes attended a private school outside the city, but even from there only a select few graduates attend the local Ivy League institution, let alone from his neighborhood.

Yale would no doubt like to have local students calling the John J. Lee Amphitheater home, but Casey is not the average kid from "The Ville."

"You have to get in and then you have to be a Division I basketball player," Yale coach James Jones said. "That in itself is not an easy feat, so it's certainly hard to find guys. Casey, he grew up on campus, he grew up walking around campus here, so that's a rarity when you get that."

Even Hughes himself is surprised he ended up going to school down the street.

Before high school, it wasn't even in the back of his mind. But by junior year, he realized that he had the grades to be an Ivy League student, not to mention the basketball skills.

"I never really pictured myself going to Yale," the senior said. But in high school "they would come to my games a lot and talk to me a lot. Coach Jones is a great guy, and coach [Curtis] Wilson was a good guy, and they became sort of my friends, and I became extremely comfortable with them."

Yale wasn't the only team that wanted the 6-foot-5 swingman; he considered going to Penn.

"I visited Penn unofficially before I came to Yale, and then I had an official visit for Penn after my official visit to Yale," Hughes said. "But I canceled, because I liked Yale so much that I didn't want to be going on official visits when I had my mind made up already."

Current Penn coach Glen Miller knows Yale got a significant contributor when it snagged the hometown star.

"He's probably the best athlete in the league," Miller said. "He's a senior with a lot of experience and he's a good defender, so he brings a lot to the table."

Hughes is not a huge threat in the halfcourt offense, but can burn opponents in transition, and is a solid rebounder for a guard/forward (6.1 per game). But his performance on the other side of the ball could be his biggest strength.

"He's a great defender on the ball," Jones said. "He has the toughest assignment every game and does a good job defending him."

Hughes was named the team's best defender last season but struggled to put points on the board. He shot only 36 percent from the floor for 7.7 points per game.

This year the New Haven native is shooting 50 percent, and ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game, in addition to his team-leading rebound total.

Hughes was always showcasing his skills in New Haven, even on campus when he was younger.

"A lot of people would sneak into the gym and I was one of them," Hughes said. "I used to get caught a couple times and they called the cops on me a couple times, but I'm family now so it's nice being on the other side of things."

Hughes is certainly happy he could get away from the courts in time. But Yale fans are thankful he never left.

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