Mike Pegues

Mike Pegues (born January 13, 1978) is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant for the Xavier University men's basketball team. He is better known for his playing career at Delaware, however, in which he was a three-time First Team All-America East Conference selection and the league's player of the year in 1998–99.

Playing career

High school

Pegues, a 6'5", 240-lb power forward from Forestville, Maryland, played at national basketball power DeMatha Catholic High School from 1992 to 1996 and was a teammate of former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook.^[1] His head coach was Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Morgan Wootten. During his four-year high school career he compiled an overall record of 105–26, including two #1 rankings in the Washington, D.C. area.

College

After graduating from DeMatha Catholic in 1996, Pegues enrolled at the University of Delaware on a basketball scholarship to play for head coach Mike Brey (who is, coincidentally, also a DeMatha alumnus).^[1] During a college career that spanned between 1996 and 2000, Pegues became the first player in school history to earn three first team all-conference selections as well as its first conference player of the year.^[2][3] He scored a still-standing Delaware record 2,030 points and guided the Fightin' Blue Hens to two NCAA Tournaments (1998, 1999) and one National Invitation Tournament (2000).^[3] In both 1997–98 and 1998–99, Delaware was America East regular season and tournament champions. When he was named the America East Conference Player of the Year as a junior,^[4] Pegues averaged 21.8 points per game. Although he did not repeat as player of the year as a senior, his overall career was good enough to have him enshrined in the University of Delaware Hall of Fame in 2007.^[2]

Professional

Pegues did not get selected in the 2000 NBA Draft but did manage to carve out a professional career that took him to Italy, England, Argentina, New Zealand and the Continental Basketball Association in the United States.^[5]

Coaching career

A knee injury ended his playing career after several seasons and he became a teacher at Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School.^[5] He also coached high school and Amateur Athletic Union basketball.^[5] In 2009–10, Pegues served as the video coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth before joining the staff at Delaware in 2010–11.^[5] In 2012, Pegues was hired as an assistant for coach Chris Mack at Xavier.^[6]

References