Rookie assistants helping NSU women’s basketball team to strong start

As late as this past August, Alison Hughes was back home in her hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, helping to build kitchens and bathrooms in her father’s company.

Five months later, Hughes is helping to construct basketball careers.

In fact, Hughes, 25, and McKenah Peters, 23, are rookie assistants on the youngest staff LeAnn Freeland-Curry has ever had in her 11-year tenure as Nova Southeastern University’s women’s basketball coach or in her four seasons at Indianapolis.

Both Peters and Hughes are former NSU players. Peters completed her playing career at NSU last season. Hughes’ final season was 2018-2019. She spent the past year doing some high school and AAU coaching but also working with her father Bill and her brother Brandon at Hughes Custom Carpentry in Janesville.

Now Peters and Hughes are coaches, and Freeland-Curry is thrilled.

“There’s so much value to having a young staff,” said Freeland-Curry, 47. “With my age, there’s a bit of a generation gap. But McKenah and Alison can truly relate to our players.”

So far, the mix is working as the NSU women’s team is 15-2. In fact, the Sharks are just one win from tying last season’s victory total (16-12).

The Sharks have been stuck in the shadow of NSU’s outstanding men’s basketball team, which is 16-0 and ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division II. But don’t overlook Sharks women such as Madison Frederick and Hailey Conley, who are about the same age as the NSU assistant coaches.

In fact, Conley, who is averaging 14.6 points, is actually 12 days older than Peters.

“We’re really good friends,” Peters said of her relationship with Conley. “That’s been a big adjustment, going from teammates to being her coach.”

Frederick, who transferred in from Iowa State following last season, is a veteran player who will turn 23 on Jan. 23.

She leads the team in scoring (18.6), rebounds (7.5) and assists (4.8), and she loves being coached by young assistants.

“My coaches at Iowa State were older,” Frederick said. “I’ve never had coaches who could step in and play defense on me in practice. It’s a whole other level of respect.”

The Sharks were able to hire Peters and Hughes because both of NSU’s assistants from last season left the team.

Freeland-Curry said Abbie Tepe-Murphy, who had been at NSU for 10 years, got out of coaching to spend more time with her daughters, ages 5 and 2. Danielle Robinson earned her doctorate degree at NSU and left for Atlanta to begin her career as a physical therapist.

Peters was hired first. Then, Hughes, who missed the warm weather, decided to move back to South Florida.

As fate would have it, Skylar Flood, an NSU senior and the girlfriend of Hughes’ brother Eric, needed a roommate.

“I had been praying for direction in my life,” said Hughes, who has likely worked on her last bathroom or kitchen for the family business. “When Skylar was looking for a roommate, I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’”

Hughes, who now lives one mile from campus, then contacted Freeland-Curry about a job, and it was a perfect fit.

“It was like she was recruiting me all over again,” Hughes said.

The chemistry between Hughes and Peters – who were never teammates previously – has been seamless.

They do shooting drills with the players, and the results have been impressive. As a team, the Sharks are shooting a sizzling 40.4 percent on 3-pointers this season.

Hughes and Peters have, at times, stepped in to work as scout-team players, helping prepare the Sharks for their next opponent.

Overall, Peters is focused on defense, charting points allowed in practices and games, noting what players need to improve on to get more stops.

Hughes is focused on rebounding, making sure the Sharks block out and make the effort needed to crash the boards.

So far, so good for the Sharks.

“I was a little nervous because of their youth,” Freeland-Curry said of her young assistants. “But they have been amazing to work with -- organized and mature.

“We’re 15-2. We must be doing something right.”