Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes has unfinished business

MADISON, Wisc. — Heading into one of the most important weeks of his life, Nigel Hayes had something else weighing on his mind. He was failing his Finance 300 class. He couldn’t even tell his mother. An F? He’s a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

But the only way to fix that grade was to study for the final exam during the NBA combine in Chicago last May.

So while Hayes was being drilled on three-pointers, getting rushed through agility shuttles and toying with the idea of entering the draft that guaranteed a minimum rookie salary of a half-million dollars in his first year, he also was going back to his professor’s 14-page syllabus and thinking about the concepts of corporate finance and long-term investments.

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It’s hard to say, but how many pro football and basketball prospects do you think would have dumped that class?

Well, Hayes never considered bailing, and that just might reveal everything about the character — and the confidence — of the 6-8 forward from Wisconsin.

“Nigel is an excellent example of the value of grit and determination in the face of adversity,” says Mark LaPlante, the professor of that finance class.

Hayes did, in fact, choose to return for his senior year with the Badgers (22-13, Sweet 16 last year). And that decision was made relatively easy for the multiposition player after all of the information had been gathered by his coach, Greg Gard, and all the feedback from his tryouts at the combine had been received.

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There was precedent, too. Michael Finley came back for a senior year and did OK for himself with a 17-year NBA career. Most recently, former Badgers teammate Frank Kaminsky came back and became the NCAA player of the year as a senior in 2014-15.

“Yep, but that was a rarity,” said Hayes, eyes wide with appreciation for Kaminsky’s accomplishment. “If every player could come back senior year and be player of the year and be five points away from winning the national championship, everyone would do that — if you could predict the future that way.”

So Hayes realistically talked this out with family members, friends and coaches and tried to envision his future, and he decided he didn’t want to slip in to the NBA. He wanted to arrive.

“And when I get there, be ready to contribute — and not have to deal with being traded to multiple teams or bounce in between D League and NBA,” Hayes says. “For the most part it wasn’t a stressful decision at all. It was a pretty good one, and we’ll see, a year from now, how great it was.”

In his 113-game career at Wisconsin, Hayes has played for teams that have gone to the Sweet 16, Final Four and NCAA title game. Last year, the all-Big Ten player averaged 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-leading 3.0 assists in 35 starts.

Once his decision was declared, Hayes got too busy to second-guess it. He got in front of a computer and started typing: team goals, personal goals, plans for more community service projects, academic goals. He wrote it all down and put a box next to every one to check off.

Then he printed multiple copies and plastered the goal sheets on the wall in his bedroom, on the fridge, in his locker, his little plan emphasizing the difference between hoping and believing.

“I have the power to make all that stuff come true to make it a great senior year,” Hayes says.

Top of his list? The degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. He studied so much for that Finance 300 final during that combine that he hoisted that failing grade all the way up to a B/C, getting no special passes for being the big man on campus.

“I believe that learning is correlated with effort, so I try to create an environment where students work really hard without getting discouraged. Challenging exams are part of that recipe,” says LaPlante, who says at first he didn’t know that one of the 200-plus students in this particular class was a member of the basketball team.

“My student-athletes are held to the exact same academic standards as any other student. There is no extra leniency, no special treatment with respect to grades — nothing. Zero, zip, zilch. Nigel was just another student on the right side of the classroom, though he was noticeably taller than everybody else. I really did not know who he was.”

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Hayes also came back for his teammates. This might seem unrealistic — how can the potential for millions of dollars compete with brothers in red — but this is the culture in Madison. Hayes was a freshman on the Final Four team and a sophomore on the NCAA runner-up team with Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. Hayes not only wants his turn to lead but also feels a sense of obligation to give back.

“One of his goals of coming back here was to try to help this team be as good as possible. Wherever that lands — we’ll see in time,” Gard says.

Finally, Hayes got serious about his diet. On a campus with breakfast dives and craft breweries, Hayes doesn’t even drink soda or eat red meat. His mostly but not all vegetarian-themed, no-dairy diet resulted in a change in his body composition and a loss of 10 to 15 pounds from his freshman playing weight. He’s now a fit and trim 240.

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He wants to be healthy because that, along with playing smart (for example, not jumping over people for a rebound), will set him up to achieve all of those goals. He couldn’t resist publishing a photo of his chiseled abs on his Instagram page.

“I’m pretty proud of myself,” Hayes says. “I actually took a before-and-after picture, from summer to the end, so I could see for myself. I made great improvements just eating better.”

Hayes doesn’t want to reveal a whole lot else on his goal board — the basketball ambitions will remain private for now. But he certainly will be looking to improve his shooting from last season (36.8% on field goals, 29.3% on three-pointers). He’s already known for being a balanced player who can rebound, pass, shoot from the outside and play with his back to the basket.

Yet with everything that Hayes brings to the court, Gard is most looking forward to seeing the leader emerge — and he doesn’t just mean at the Kohl Center, where the Badgers play, but on campus among 43,000 students. Hayes is well-rounded in everything that he does, from his awareness and opinions on social issues to community service projects.

“Nigel is very intelligent and very intellectual,” Gard says. “Some guys just get in the gym; that’s all they think about. His mind goes in to different areas, social issues, campus issues, his academic degree and what he’s going to do with it. He’s engaged in what he’s doing and not just basketball.”

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Nickel writes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.

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