Applewhite, though, saw more in the young man than perhaps Hudson even saw in himself. The coach took Hudson to the campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College to meet the legendary Verties Sails, one of the most beloved, longest-tenured, and successful junior college basketball coaches in America.
Sails, who has seen more insanely talented basketball players come out of Memphis than most people have hairs on their head (no exaggeration), decided to take a chance on the troubled baller.
“We had to work hard with him and try to get his academics squared away,” Sails said to the CA’s Scott Masilak. “It wasn’t that he couldn’t do the work. He just had never settled down to do anything. Once we got him settled in, and it took a while, everything settled into place.”
Well, sort of fell in place.
Though "the Molester" was able to remain eligible for both years at Southwest, and despite the fact that he was the Tennessee Junior College Player of the Year after averaging 18 points and seven rebounds per game as a sophomore, his transcript was so lacking in core requirements that no major college in the country would gamble on him.
By then, however, UT-Martin assistant coach Jason James had developed a strong rapport with Hudson, who had begun to thrive under the tutelage of male figures such as Applewhite and then Sails.
James was concerned about more than just what Hudson could do on a basketball court, much as his last two coaches had been. He promised Lester that UT-Martin would see to it that the young man would graduate from college.
“They promised me they would help me get a degree, and that was a key for me,” Lester said. “Everyone else was talking to me about the NBA. I didn’t even see the campus. I didn’t care how it looked. When they told me that, I believed them.”
Hudson was nowhere close to being eligible. He paid his own way to Martin for one year, and got his academics in order. He then had two years of eligibility and immediately set about turning the college basketball world on its ear.
Now, keep in mind that, by then, Hudson had a grand total of three years in organized basketball under his belt: His junior year in high school and then two years at a juco.
His numbers as a junior at UTM were cartoonish. He scored 35 points in 29 minutes against nationally-ranked Memphis in his maiden voyage, adding 10 rebounds and seven three-pointers, showing the range he had developed during his season off from the game.
Memphis players were no strangers to Hudson, even though the nation at large was shocked by the stunning outburst.
“I know all those guys. We played together in the summertime at the Finch Center,” Hudson said after the game. “They were saying, ‘Why are you doing us like this?’”
His next outing resulted in 31 points, and the third game back in the saddle set NCAA Division I history.
Hudson netted the first quadruple-double ever recorded: 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in 31 minutes in a rout over Central Baptist.
The walking video game scored 30 or more points 12 times, 25-29 points nine times, and failed to crack double figures only once in a nine-point showing on Valentine’s Day against Tenenssee Tech.
He finished the year averaging 25.7 points per game, one of the top figures in the nation, to complement 7.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per outing. He tested the NBA Draft waters, but was not a guaranteed draft choice and returned to school.
He scorched the landscape again, ringing up a scintillating 27.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, and 4.2 apg. He cracked 30 points another 11 times, and his season-low was 15 points against Murray State.
And on May 16, 2009, he got the first, and most important, degree in his life, graduating with a degree in university studies.
He was then chosen in the second round of the draft, No. 58, by the Boston Celtics.
So we now have a young man with only five years of organized basketball under his belt about to land in the NBA, at the age of 24, and you know what I think?
The Celtics got a steal.
Hudson is a true combo guard, with a scorer’s mentality yet good ability as a distributor. He also has a pro body: 6’2”, 190 chiseled pounds, and a freakish 6’9” wingspan.
He’s not the fastest, nor most athletic, guard in this draft, and his three-point stroke is average at best, but that’s never been the reason to have him around.
Hudson is just relentless. His deceptive strength allows him to overpower smaller guards, his quickness is overwhelming to larger guards, and his tenacity allows him to crash into the interior of the opposing defense, where it’s “pick your poison” time.
Collapse on Hudson, and he will find an open teammate. Leave him one-on-one, and it’s “and-one” time. Foul him, and he converts the free throws (86 percent in his UTM career).
Because of his determination, Hudson has become the exception that proves the rule: He is the pick-up king who overcame his own academic indifference to become a college graduate. He’s already overcome more in his life than most of us can imagine.
And I, for one, foresee a long, productive NBA career. He is with a team that needs precisely what he can offer: Prodigious offense from the guard position. Not saying he will start, but I am saying he can contribute right away.
Lester is still a Molester after all these years.
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