By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Josh Endicott and Phillip Hughes have each joined the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball program, head coach Ryan Ridder announced today.
Endicott is a 6-8, 200-pound junior forward who hails from Baxter, Tenn. and is transferring from the University of North Florida. Hughes is a 6-1, 180-pound freshman guard from Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison, Miss.
Endicott’s story is a unique one as he began his collegiate career as a pitcher on the University of Cincinnati baseball squad. Following an injury, he transferred to Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tenn. and excelled before two years at the Division I level at North Florida.
Playing the last two seasons under head coach Matthew Driscoll, Endicott was part of a 2019-20 Atlantic Sun Conference co-championship squad after the Ospreys went 21-12 overall and 13-3 in league play. He shot 53.8 percent (105-for-195) from the floor – including a 39.4 percent clip (13-of-33) from three-point range – while tallying 260 points and 167 rebounds over 46 games during his stay in Jacksonville, Fla.
Last season, Endicott posted averages of 8.7 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest. He started in 16 of his 17 games, connecting on 53.1 percent (60-for-113) of his field goal tries while knocking down 47.6 percent (10-for-21) of his attempts from three-point land.
Endicott snared a pair of double-doubles in 2020-21, posting career-highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds at High Point on Dec. 5 while tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds against Edward Waters on Dec. 21. Overall, he scored in double figures on five different occasions, equaling his career-best with 18 points against North Alabama on Jan. 30. He also tied a career-high with 12 rebounds and swatted away a career-best two blocks at Lipscomb on Jan. 16. His career-high of three assists came at Miami (Nov. 29) and in the aforementioned contest against Edward Waters.
The 2019-20 campaign saw Endicott score in double-digits twice (season-highs of 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in only 16 minutes against Trinity Baptist on Nov. 18 and 11 points against LIU on Nov. 28). He equaled a season-high with nine rebounds against Florida National on Nov. 7 and had a trio of three-assist performances to go along with three multi-block efforts (against Georgia Southern on Nov. 11, at Dayton on Dec. 30, against Jacksonville on March 3).
During his lone season at Motlow State, Endicott nearly averaged a double-double (9.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game) and rejected a team-best 23 blocks on his way to All-Tennessee Community College Athletic Association first team and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Playing under head coach Arthur Latham, he shot 46.4 percent (109-for-235) overall, including a 39.6 percent clip (21-of-53) from three-point land as the Bucks went 18-11 overall with a 14-4 conference mark.
Endicott corralled nine double-doubles during the 2018-19 season, including a monster outing at Dyersburg State on Jan. 18 where he set career-highs with 19 points (on 8-of-11 shooting) and 18 rebounds. He also put together an 18-point, 12-rebound, career-best four-assist game against Cleveland State on Feb. 1 and had 18 points plus 12 rebounds the next day against Chattanooga State. All in all, he had 14 double-figure scoring games and grabbed 10 or more rebounds on 13 different occasions as a redshirt freshman. In addition, he posted seven multi-block games and a pair of multi-steal efforts.
A highly acclaimed two-sport star at Upperman High School, Endicott garnered Class AA first team all-state, All-Region 4AA and District 8 Most Valuable Player honors in basketball as a senior as the Bees went 24-6 overall. He shattered the UHS career records for highest field goal percentage, rebounds and blocked shots under head coach Bobby McWilliams.
“Josh is a proven player,” Ridder said. “We expect him to come in and make an immediate impact in our frontcourt and be a leader for this group.”
Hughes was the floor general of a prestigious Patriots program that won the Mississippi 5A state championship for three consecutive seasons (2019-21) while adding a Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Overall state championship this past season. Playing under the legendary Richard Duease (the winningest coach in Mississippi history), Hughes was an all-state selection and was named the 2021 Mississippi 5A Co-Most Valuable Player. Those honors came after he helped guide MRA to its seventh straight 5A state title and 13th Overall championship after a 33-3 season (including a perfect 29-0 mark against MAIS competition). All in all, Hughes earned all-conference, All-5A state tournament and All-Overall state tournament accolades in his senior, junior and sophomore seasons.
In the Overall state title victory over Greenville Christian, Hughes scored the first four points of overtime and nailed a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to seal the win. He was also named the MVP for the South squad during the 2021 Mississippi Top Seniors All-Star Game while additionally earning a MAIS All-Star selection following his senior campaign.
Hughes’ strong senior year included all-tournament accolades at the Sunkist Shootout event held in Lafayette, La. At that tournament, he poured in a career-best 30 points to go along with 12 rebounds in the quarterfinals against Southside before securing 21 points against previously unbeaten Ellender in the tournament semifinals. He scored his 1,000th career point against Heritage Academy on Dec. 5 and also tossed in 28 points against Hillcrest Christian on Nov. 19.
As a junior, Hughes was part of a Patriots team that went 32-7 overall. He scored 19 clutch points in the victory over Jackson Prep in the 5A state finals and tossed in 26 points in an early season win over Pascagoula.
Hughes also brings quite a story to the Skyhawk program as his father Whit played on the 1996 Final Four men’s basketball team at Mississippi State. Like Endicott, Phillip was also a multi-sport star in high school as earlier this month he was part of the MRA state championship 1600 meter relay squad with a school-record time of 3:29.91.
“Phillip comes from a prestigious high school program,” Ridder said. “He is a bigtime winner and he will be crucial in laying the foundation of our program.”
This duo joins previous UT Martin signees Bernie Andre (Gr., F, North Miami Beach, Fla.), Darius Simmons (Gr., G, Raleigh, NC), David Didenko (Jr., F, Yakutsk, Russia), Grant Hurst (Fr., G, Cleveland, Tenn.), KJ Simon (Jr., G, Orlando, Fla.), KK Curry (So., F, Cleveland, Tenn.), Koby Jeffries (R-Fr., G, Olive Branch, Miss.), Mikel Henderson (So., G, Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Chris Nix (R-So., F, Nashville, Tenn.) and David Kamwanga (Fr., F, Lancaster, Pa.) on the Skyhawks’ 2021-22 roster.
Photos and graphics courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information