Jaxson Hayes, former Moeller High School star, declares he'll enter NBA Draft, hire agent

Jaxson Hayes declared Thursday that he'll enter the 2019 NBA Draft and hire an agent. The former Moeller High School standout is expected by many to be a lottery pick in the draft.

"Thank you to all the Longhorn fans and the people of Cincinnati who have been there cheering me on the whole way," Hayes said, via texassports.com.

The Texas Longhorns tweeted about the Big 12 Freshman of the Year's move:

"This has always been a dream of mine so I'm really excited for this chapter," Hayes said shortly after the announcement was posted on Twitter. 

Hayes had a dramatic rise in the basketball world. As a 6-foot-7 junior at Moeller he came off the bench for a team that didn't lose until the state final. He averaged 1.1 points and a couple rebounds a game.

By the next season, he had sprouted to 6-11 and was on everyone's radar, including Shaka Smart's at Texas. Hayes averaged 12.2 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Crusaders leading them to the 2018 state title.

From there, Hayes announced to a packed gym at Moeller he would attend Texas. All he did in Austin was turn more heads and position himself into an NBA lottery pick. In doing so, he is Moeller High School's first NBA player.

"When he was being recruited, when Calipari (Kentucky) was here, he wasn't talking about him being a one and done," Moeller coach Carl Kremer said. "The rate of his progress has been so incredible and it didn't slow up in college. I could see it on a week-to-week basis."

Kremer is confident Hayes will handle everything well from here based on his family support. The family DNA is pretty good also with former Bengals coach Jonathan Hayes being a former NFL tight end and mother, Kristi Hayes, a college basketball standout at Drake who actually averaged 50 points per game in high school. Mother knows best.

While many may be shocked at the rise of Jaxson Hayes, he is not. Confidence is a great attribute to young athletes.

"I felt like people never really saw me, I felt I've always been like this," Hayes said. "I thought like this year I could have done this when no one expected me too."

A football receiver at Moeller High School, Hayes never lost his athleticism as his body bloomed into a desirable wingspan for the pros (7-foot-4). Shaka Smart was an early believer and Hayes feels the Longhorns coaching staff did a great job developing him into a prospect.

As such, Hayes leaves today for Los Angeles where he'll be looking for an agent and developing a strategy to workout for several teams.

Hayes suffered a knee injury during the Texas Longhorns' Big 12 Championship quarterfinal loss to Kansas and missed their run to the NIT title, which included a second-round overtime win against Xavier. He enjoyed watching the Longhorns hoist a trophy but played it safe and sat out the postseason.

"Rehab and recovery has gone very well," Hayes said of his injured left knee. "I'm not in a brace and I'm not on crutches anymore."

Hayes moved up considerably in recent updates of 2019 NBA Draft big boards assessing the top 60 players expected to be available in June.

Hayes averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game during the season for the Longhorns.

More from a recent story by star-telegram.com's Drew Davison:

But Hayes made it clear he feels he’s ready to play at the next level if he chooses that route.

“I feel like if I were to make the jump, I feel like I’d be good,” Hayes said after Texas won the NIT championship on Thursday night.

“I’d just play my game. I have a lot of confidence in myself.”

The deadline to request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee is next Thursday, something that Hayes could explore if he wants confirmation of his draft stock.

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While he'll be happy to cross the stage and put on anyone's hat June 20 in the NBA Draft, as a fan, Hayes likes the Cleveland Cavaliers. He's been watching a lot more of the pros recently.

"I've been watching a lot of the games lately," Hayes said. "It's to study. I knew I was going to be playing in the league soon. I'll be happy going anywhere."

With that, Hayes had to run off to class at Texas. He hopes to end in good standing in Austin and looks to come back and finish his degree.