Former UT Martin Basketball Player Hudson Signs Contact With the Boston Celtics

Former UT Martin Basketball Player Hudson Signs Contact With the Boston Celtics

MARTIN, Tenn. – Lester Hudson, the 58th pick in June’s NBA draft, has signed a contract with the Boston Celtics. Hudson played the past two seasons at The University of Tennessee at Martin and is a two-time winner of the Ohio Valley Conference Male Athlete of the Year award.

Jason James, The University of Tennessee at Martin head men’s basketball coach, said he talked with Hudson via telephone Sunday and confirmed the signing. Details of the contract are not available at this time.

“I was very anxious about it (the contract),” Hudson told the Boston Herald. “It’s a great feeling. I got to work out with all of the guys on this team.”

The Celtics officially began training camp Monday (Sept. 28) with media day activities at their Waltham, Mass. practice facility before boarding a bus to their training camp site at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

Boston head coach Doc Rivers will guide the new-look Celtics, which have many new faces on the roster this year in addition to the return of Kevin Garnett from an injury, through the playbook in preparation for the first preseason game, Oct. 7 in Houston.
Boston will play a total of eight preseason games in 14 days, leading up to the season-opener against reigning NBA MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics drafting of Hudson couldn’t have worked out better for the Memphis native, as he got the opportunity to play for one of the league’s most storied franchises and a team who was coming off its 17th world championship in 2008. The 2009 draft began a flurry of offseason moves for Boston, with several of them boding well for Hudson.
 
Boston’s most glaring holes heading into the offseason were at back-up point guard for incumbent starter Rajon Rondo and depth at the power forward position. They shored up their starting power forward spot in early July when they landed NBA veteran Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics seemed to entirely fill the void at the forward position in early August when they signed defensive stalwart Shelden Williams and re-signed mainstay forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

With the Celtics front office spending the money on the forward spot, it appeared as if they would promote from within for the back-up point guard position. The move became even more apparent on July 31, when the Celtics waived Gabe Pruitt, Boston’s second round pick from 2007 who had been groomed for the past two seasons to be the back-up point guard.

Although Hudson had been injured in a summer league game, it appears as if the team has put enough faith in Hudson to hand over the reins to him. The Celtics also signed shooting guard Marquis Daniels from the Pacers this offseason, adding depth along with sharpshooters Eddie House, Tony Allen and JR Giddens off the bench to back up starting shooting guard Ray Allen. None of the four back-ups at shooting guard have played significant time in the pros at the point guard slot.

Hudson helped UT Martin win its first-ever OVC Championship and advance to the NIT Tournament in 2009. The team finished the season with an overall record of 22-10 and was first in the OVC with a 14-4 league worksheet. Hudson was the nation’s second leading scorer, averaging 27.5 points, ending his two-year career just two points shy of the all-time UT Martin scoring mark, behind Mike Meschede’s 1,729 points from 1984-88. One of college basketball’s most all-around players, Hudson also averaged 7.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game last season.