A two-time WNBA Champion and Gold Medal-winning coach, Dan Hughes is the only coach in WNBA history to take four different franchises to the playoffs and advance all four teams. With a record of 281-311, he claims the third-most wins all-time in the league. He was also twice named WNBA Coach of the Year, first in 2001 and again in 2007.

Hughes spent 4 years with the Seattle Storm (2018-2022). The Storm won two WNBA Championships in 2018 and 2020 with his overall Coaching Record 56-28. Prior to his time with the Storm, he spent 12 years as the Head Coach and General Manager for San Antonio from 2005-16, guiding the Stars to seven postseason appearances. He led the Cleveland Rockers from 2000-03, and was elevated to Head Coach in Charlotte midway through the 1999 season—posting a 10-10 record for the Sting. With those four franchises, Hughes’s teams made 15 playoff appearances in 20 total seasons. Hughes also served as a head coach at the 2009 and 2018 WNBA All-Star Games.

Hughes’s leadership is evidenced by his extensive coaching tree that has garnered seven WNBA head coaches including James Wade, Cheryl Reeve, Vickie Johnson, Vanessa Nygaard and Sandy Brondello. Many of his former players have also gone on to coach in the professional ranks, including: Becky Hammon, former Assistant Coach for the San Antonio Spurs and current Head Coach for the Las Vegas Aces.

Hughes, who served on the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee from 2009-16, was an Assistant Coach from 2016-2021 including the 2018 USA Basketball Women’s National Team that won gold at the FIBA Women’s World Cup. In 2019, his former point guard and USA Women’s Basketball National Team head coach Dawn Staley selected Hughes to serve as an assistant coach for the 2020 Olympic Games, culminating in a Gold Medal at the Tokyo Games.

Prior to the WNBA, he served as the Assistant Coach for the University of Toledo’s women’s basketball program (1996-97) and men’s basketball program (1991-96). During his tenure with the Rockets’ women’s hoops team, Toledo posted a 27-4 record, winning the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship and notching an NCAA Tournament appearance. Hughes also served assistant coaching roles with the men’s basketball teams at Mount Union College and Baldwin-Wallace College.

Dan attended Fort Frye High School in Beverly, Ohio and went on to graduate from Muskingum College in 1977. He earned his Master's Degree in education from Miami University in 1978. In 2019 Hughes received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Muskingum University.