Rhyne Hughes is back at PRCC as an assistant after a circuitous path that included a brief stint in the major leagues.

Hughes was named as assistant coach not long after new head coach Michael Avalon was hired.

Hughes, 32, was a standout first baseman at Picayune High School before his stellar career at PRCC in 2003 and 2004, earning NJCAA All-America honors as a sophomore. In 2004, he led the Wildcats to the MACJC State Tournament championship and a berth in the NJCAA Division 2 World Series.

He signed a scholarship offer with Ole Miss, but never played for the Rebels after the Tampa Bay Rays selected him in the eighth round of the MLB Amateur Draft.

Hughes spent five seasons in the Rays organization before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in August, 2009.That was the year his career took a big step, as he spent much of that season in Class AAA, with Durham and Norfolk in the International League.

He batted a combined .279 with 25 home runs and 79 RBIs.

The Orioles liked what they saw enough that they promoted him to the majors on April 24, 2010, where he debuted against the Boston Red Sox.

Hughes appeared in 14 games for the Orioles, making 51 plate appearances and batting .213 before being sent back to Triple-A, where he spent the remainder of the 2010 season.He spent three more seasons in pro baseball, finishing his career with Binghamton in the New York Mets organization. Altogether, in nine minor-league seasons, Hughes batted .272 with 107 homers and 451 RBIs.

After finishing his professional career, Hughes still needed two more years of college to obtain his bachelor’s degree, so he enrolled at Southeastern Louisiana, graduating with the Class of 2016.While at SLU, he spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a student assistant under longtime friend Matt Riser, with whom he played both at Picayune and PRCC, as well as former Wildcat coach Jay Artigues, now the athletic director at SLU.