Kansas State University Athletics
Baseball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- (785) 706-8880
THE THOMAS HUGHES FILE
Born: November 11, 1996 in San Antonio, Texas
High School: Norman North High School in Norman, Okla.
College: Oklahoma, bachelor’s degree in administrative leadership, 2019; Kansas State, master’s in academic advising
Family: Wife: Riley
Playing Career
Oklahoma, 2016-18
Kansas State, 2019
Coaching Career
Kansas State, Assistant Coach, 2020-Present
Hughes enters his fifth season as K-State’s assistant coach. After finishing his playing career for the Wildcats in 2019, Hughes spent one season as the volunteer assistant at Morehead State under head coach Mik Aoki. The Eagles went 5-10 before the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19.
In 2024, Hughes served as the Wildcats third base coach and helped guide K-State to its first run in the NCAA Tournament and first NCAA Super Regional appearance since 2013.
Hughes made 57 starts, including 49 at shortstop, during his lone season at Kansas State in 2019. He the Wildcats with 45 walks – the most by a K-State player since 2012 – and finished third on the team in on-base percentage, setting a program record with five walks during the Big 12 Championship, including three against Kansas on May 23. Defensively, he boasted a .971 fielding percentage as a middle infielder with a team-high 154 assists.
Before joining K-State, Hughes spent three seasons at Oklahoma (2016–18), helping the Sooners to two NCAA Regional appearances, including a run to the 2018 Tallahassee Regional final where he was named to the all-tournament team after going 8-for-16.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Hughes graduated from Norman North High School in Norman, Oklahoma, after also attending Blacksburg High School in Virginia. A four-year letterwinner and three-time team captain, he was named to the Oklahoma All-State and Regional All-Star teams and earned the 2015 Ferguson Jenkins Award as the state’s top baseball player.
Hughes is the son of Pete and Debby Hughes and has three younger brothers – Hal, Dominic, and PJ – and a sister, Grace. His father, Pete, serves as K-State’s head baseball coach, while his brother Hal played at Ric, Dominic at K-State, while PJ currently plays for Richmond. Hughes credits his father as his biggest influence in baseball and has recorded countless hours volunteering with Special Olympics and children’s hospitals.
Hughes and his wife, Riley, reside in Manhattan with their dog, Rusty. He earned his bachelor’s degree in administrative leadership from Oklahoma in 2018 before pursuing a graduate degree in academic advising at K-State.
