Two Relationships In One

Whether coach Vance Hughes can lead the Kennedale girls basketball team to the state tournament this season will depend largely on the play of a super-talented senior point guard - his daughter Destini Hughes.

Coaching your daughter and being coached by your dad isn't always easy, but the duo says they wouldn't have it any other way. And that's a fortunate thing, considering their coach-player relationship doesn't end when they step off the court.

After a game, they often go over film together, with special attention paid to what the coach's daughter did and didn't do well. They unwind at home by catching a WNBA game or other sporting event on television.

About the only place where they are just father and daughter is at the dinner table.

"My wife tries to limit the talk," Vance Hughes said. "She always tells us there's something else besides basketball."

Destini Hughes, who has orally committed to LSU, is one of the top point guard prospects in the nation and one of the top overall players according to most scouting services. To her dad, she is a great player capable of playing even better if she learns from her mistakes.

"There's no perfect game," the younger Hughes said. "So, there's always something that I can work on. After a bad game, I kind of expect what he's going to say. But he gives me my props when I do well."

Destini Hughes said being a coach's daughter gives her an edge over the competition. For one thing, she can get into the gym whenever she wants. She often polishes her game late in the evening while her dad attends to other tasks in his office.

"I think it's an advantage for me having a coach for a dad, even though it's hard sometimes," she said. "I think I understand the game better."

In the huddle, though, the relationship can be difficult for both. The elder Hughes admits he tends to be tougher on his daughter than his other players.

"When you coach them all their life, you expect more," said Vance Hughes, who played college basketball at Centenary. "When it's your own daughter, you see flaws others might not see."

On the other hand, the elder Hughes said he doesn't have to push his daughter to succeed. He said he considers her the hardest working player he's ever coached. And that's quite a compliment considering that list includes former Waxahachie stud and current Milwaukee Bucks starter Desmond Mason.

Destini Hughes has to be driven to accomplish the goals she has set for herself. She'd like to play in the WNBA and plans to study to become a veterinarian.

"I'm blessed to have the talent to go to college and get an education for free," Hughes said.

She cultivated that talent by competing against her siblings, who, like her, are also ultra-athletic. Older brother Antwan Kirk-Hughes was a three-year starter on the University of Texas football team. Older sister Niqky Hughes is a basketball player at UT. Destini also has a younger brother and sister who are just as talented as the rest.

"They're really competitive, Niqky and Destini," said Vance Hughes, who began coaching his daughters in Amateur Athletic Union competition at a young age. "I had to supervise them in one-on-one or it got a little rough. All of them hate to lose."

Vance is always an impartial supervisor, mind you. When it comes to the members of team Hughes, "I don't pick favorites," Vance Hughes said.

When Destini goes off to college next year, Vance will be spending a lot of time watching both his daughters' games on cable and over the Web. When he can, he'll attend games in person - but as a father, not as a coach.