An Open Mind: Hayes brings a unique perspective
March 02, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
From classical music to tattoos of ancient texts to his NBA future, inside the mind of Nigel Hayes
As much as Nigel Hayes likes to follow the flow of the game — "It's not anything forced," he says of his moves in the post — his thinking off the floor can sometimes go against the grain. He finds peace in classical music, he chose messages about the power of positive energy for his first tattoos and, while everyone buzzes about Steph and the Warriors, he remains fixated on following longtime favorite Kobe Bryant. His way of thinking also has him defying conventional wisdom when it comes to his future, realizing that a decision on jumping to the NBA isn't necessarily his to make.  |  From Varsity Magazine
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes couldn't pinpoint the exact time and place that he was first introduced to classical music.
There was a high school classmate who played the piano and exposed him to the genre. He also recalled some slick marketing for the NBA Finals that tapped into Carl Orff's musical composition of "O Fortuna" that is as recognizable as Kobe Bryant, at least to Hayes, a huge Kobe fan.
"That's great stuff – 'O Fortuna' — great song," said Hayes, a junior from Toledo, Ohio. "If you watch any type of sports commercial or any commercial trying to get an emotion — an emotional feeling out of you — then you've heard the song. You may not know the name, but you will recognize it.
"Sometimes, I'll listen to it when I'm studying. Sometimes, I'll put it on when I'm making my pancakes at night. I've worked out to it on the court a couple of times. I've played it over the surround sound or whatever in the arena. Sounded great, sounded great."
What kind of emotion does "O Fortuna" stimulate in Hayes?
"It's nice and calming," he said.
Calming?
"O Fortuna," the opening and closing movement of Orff's cantata Carmina Burana, has been characterized as "an incredibly compelling and passionate piece of music" by a website source on "Bold and Beautiful" music.
"There's a little part in there that is calming," Hayes insisted, "and then it gets exciting.
"That's sometimes how the game of basketball goes."
Picture the 6-foot-8 Hayes working on his low post techniques in the paint. The musical backdrop puts him in the mood, the right mindset, he says, reminding him in the process of executing the moves "to make sure they're smooth and it just flows. It's not anything forced."
Hayes' approach has summarily piqued the curiosity of UW freshman Charlie Thomas.
"I was trying to explain to Charlie," Hayes said, "when he catches the ball in the post, it should be classical music (on his mind), not rock 'n' roll. He went out there and made a couple of great post moves. And he gave me the look, 'Yeah, Nige, good advice.'"
Hayes has reiterated the very same things to his other teammates. "When you catch it," he has advised them, "there's got to be calm — peacefulness — and you just let the move happen. You don't try and force a move or have it predetermined. You just let it flow."
Hayes is adept at going with the flow, or whatever is brought on by his celebrity and personality.
What does he like the most about being who he is?
"It's a pretty fun life," he confided. "I get to do a lot of things based on and attributed to putting the ball through the rim. But I also think I have a very good, engaging personality that people love to be around. It allows me to do a lot of cool things like the weddings you saw …."
On this week's installment of The Journey — a popular Big Ten Network production — Hayes is seen crashing a local wedding party — much to the delight of the couple that is getting married.
"For people to allow me to be in their wedding," he said, "and, in one, cut their cake — what I feel like is a special moment those two people — and for them to think that I'm important enough to let me in on that, it means a lot to me."
What else does he like about being Nigel Hayes?
"When people come to the games and they want your autograph or they want to talk to you because you're their favorite player, that's all great stuff," he said. "I guess that's what you want growing up — you want to be good at your sport and have people love watching you play."
It's pretty fun being Nigel Hayes on those occasions, he agreed. When isn't it as much fun?
"Sometimes, I wish my hood over my head was a little bigger, so I was a little bit more invisible," he said. "There are times when I'm out and about and I would rather be left alone. But that's not going to happen and I guess that's understandable.
"I appreciate the fact that people want to talk to me and take a picture with me because they think that I'm decent enough at playing something l love to do — which is playing basketball — and that's something that I have to always be thankful for."
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Beethoven's Fifth is another one of Hayes' classical favorite.
But he doesn't play a lot of music around his apartment, a short walk from the Kohl Center.
"I'm not like some of the guys on our team," he said. "A Jordan Hill or an Ethan Happ will have music on 24/7. They listen to music all the time. Occasionally, in a blue moon, I might put it on."
As a freshman, Hayes lived in the dorms with Vitto Brown; a natural connection since they're both from Ohio (Brown is from Bowling Green), competed against each other as preps and on the AAU circuit and became friends during the recruiting process.
For the last two years, Hayes has lived by himself. He says one of the first things you'll notice when you walk into his apartment is "how clean it is overall." He takes that cue from his mom, Talaya.
"My mother raised a clean child, so I try and do my best to keep it clean," he said. "She was actually a little upset that my apartment was a little dirty this past weekend. It was dirty in her eyes. In the eyes of anyone else, it's probably immaculate for a college male living by himself."
Hayes likes candles; a lot of candles, an acquired taste. He picked up the idea from a former UW volleyball player. While taking part in a study group session at her apartment, he noticed, "She had a million candles and it smelled great, so I went out and bought a bunch of candles."
It's not like he's reading by candlelight. Not that he has much time to read anything beyond his business and finance assignments. Most of his books are on a shelf in a closet. "Two piles," he said. "On the right side are the ones that I have read. On the left side are the ones I still have to read."
At the centerpiece of Hayes' apartment is an autographed Kobe Bryant jersey.
"It's in a corner in a case," he said. "It's sitting there all beautiful."
"If I'm on the court and I'm playing well, would my family be proud of how I'm playing?" Hayes asks. "If the answer is yes, keep it up. If it's no, it means I need to do a little better."
On Feb. 22, the 37-year-old Bryant made his last visit to Milwaukee. Along with some of his UW teammates, Hayes was in attendance for the game against the Bucks at the BMO Bradley Center. Hayes wore a purple Lakers No. 24 jersey and got his picture taken with Bryant afterwards.
"There was a lot of small talk," said Hayes, who used Bryant's locker in the Staples Center during last season's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games of the NCAA tournament in Los Angeles. "At one point, I told him that he was the reason I picked No. 10 because that was his USA number."
Although Bryant has worn Nos. 8 and 24 during his 20-year Lakers career, he wore No. 10 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. FIBA limits jersey selection to numbers 4 through 15. Beyond that, No. 10 is worn by soccer's greatest playmakers. Bryant was raised in Italy.
"I told him that I try to wear it to keep him proud," Hayes related of their brief postgame conversation. "He said, 'Keep up the good work. You'll do great.' If Kobe says that to you — whew — that bodes well. Hopefully I can keep working and maybe one day I'll be good."
Hayes has not committed Bryant's encouraging words to ink. Not yet.
Less than two months ago, Hayes got his first tattoo. Two weeks ago, he got a second tat.
"I got them both because of specific reasons," said the 21-year-old Hayes. "They're motivating influences in my life; something to keep me going, not only in basketball, but throughout life in general and the situations that I might find myself in."
On his right wrist, there are three words: Love. Life. Family.
"If I'm on the court and I'm playing well, would my family be proud of how I'm playing?" said Hayes, who also has the initials of his family members tattooed on his wrist. "If the answer is yes, keep it up. If it's no, it means I need to do a little better. That's always there as a reminder."
Before the Badgers played at Michigan State, he got a tattoo on the outside of his left leg.
This one is more involved. It looks like a written passage or a paragraph out of a book. The text comes from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
"Good karma there," he said, craning his neck to read what it says. "A lot going on there."
One of the messages is, "If you speak in anger — anger will be your truth."
"If you put out bad things in the world, negative energy, negative vibes, that will come back on you and vice versa," Hayes observed. "If you're more positive about the world and you do well, do good for people, good things will come back."
He pointed to another sentence on his leg, once again craning his neck to read it aloud.
"Who you are," he said, "is limited only by who you think you are."
How did he interpret this message?
"When I'm doing whatever I'm doing," he said, "I'm going to try and be the best and do the best at it. That's the mindset I try to take on the court so that every time I step out there I feel that I will be the best player that I need to be for my team to win. And I'll do my best to make that happen."
Hayes was more than willing to translate the tattoo.
"People will see it and they will always ask me about it and what it means," he said. "And I will always have to keep explaining it and (in turn) I will keep reminding myself. I will keep telling myself over and over why I have it … and it's to make sure I keep living through it."
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On Monday morning, Hayes agreed to answer some questions for a Sports Literature class and what he understood to be a mock radio show. The lead question: "Is it good for kids to be one-and-done?" The "kids" are college basketball players who declare for the NBA draft after one season.
"It just depends on the kids obviously," said Hayes, repeating his answer. "Some kids are ready to make the leap, which is good for them, good that they have that talent and ability.
"Some kids think that they're ready and that's the worst problem that you can have. They end up leaving too early and not being developed enough and then they have troubles in the NBA and they bounce around from team to team or they go to the D-League or overseas, et cetera, et cetera."
How does an individual determine his own readiness?
"It's easy if you have the right people around you," Hayes suggested. "A lot of those kids have people around them who are telling them, 'Go, go, go …' And they end up going early and they're nowhere ready, they haven't developed aspects of their game that will help them succeed in the NBA.
"My freshman year I wasn't ready to go at all, so it was a no-brainer to come back. My sophomore year, it was one of those traps where a team wins a lot of games and goes far in the tournament and you're thinking, 'You should go, you should go …'"
But after discussing the situation with the people in his inner circle, Hayes said, "It wasn't the right time to go. So I came back and here we are … probably one of the reasons why I came back was so I could develop more and try to be a more well-rounded and complete player."
As far as that goes, his personal development, Hayes tweaked his shooting mechanics.
"It started before the offseason," he said of the process that led to the changes. "I knew that it needed to be (tweaked) but there was no point in changing obviously during the season, during March.
"It's always a frustrating process because when you change something, especially something like that, it gets worse before it gets better."
That can lead to doubts or second-guessing or both.
"The ball is never going to go in. It's bad. It's terrible. This, that and the other,'" said Hayes, who heard it all. "That happened in the beginning of the season; my shooting percentage was down."
Did he lose confidence in his shot?
"Never, never," he emphasized. "Kobe would never do that. So I wouldn't."
"If people think I'm ready, then I guess I'm ready to go. If not, then I'll be back," Hayes said. "You can think all you want that you're NBA material, but if the people who pick you don't think so, you'll never get there."
Bryant has forever espoused shooting your way out of a slump. He once chastised Deron Williams for going 0-for-9 with the logic that he would rather be 0-for-30 and still hunting his shot.
"It's repetition, that's all it was," Hayes said. "Mechanics, repetition and confidence are what make people a great shooter. I had the confidence in myself. I fixed the mechanics — that was the whole point of me changing it — and I just needed to keep shooting and it would all come together eventually."
Hayes has certainly developed into a far more complete player. During Wisconsin's seven-game winning streak, he averaged 20 points. But it doesn't tell the whole story on the impact that he can have on the outcome of a game, especially with his court vision and awareness and his passing skills.
Has he made the people around him better? Absolutely. Hayes has 92 assists. Through his first two seasons combined (78 games) he had 115 assists. Moreover, Hayes has attempted 218 free throws. Only one UW player has ever shot more in a single season. Alando Tucker holds the record with 249.
Hayes knows where he needs to get better, notably with his ball-handling and shooting. "And putting those two together — being able to shoot off the dribble," he said. "Until you can shoot off the dribble like Steph (Curry) you always have room to improve."
Nobody can match Curry.
"Exactly," he said. "That's why you have to keep working …"
That's one of his strengths. His work ethic. That extends from the court to the classroom, where after this semester he will need a little more than 20 credits to graduate.
"I pride myself on being a very intelligent player," said Hayes, citing an oft-heard description of what it takes to be successful at different levels of competition. "In high school, you play with your hands. In college, you play with your feet. In the NBA, you play with your mind."
All things considered, then, is Hayes ready to make that leap?
"I guess that remains to be seen," he said. "If people think I'm ready, then I guess I'm ready to go. If not, then I'll be back … it's not solely based on my confidence in myself. It's also based on the people who pay you and draft you to come and play for them.
"You can think all you want that you're NBA material, but if the people who pick you don't think so, you'll never get there."
Hayes was not about to answer the question. Nor does he really have to yet. To this end, the NCAA has enacted legislation to give undergraduate players more flexibility to evaluate and assess their NBA readiness without losing their eligibility. This will allow them to make more informed decisions.
In the past, the deadline for withdrawing your name from the draft was tied to the national letter-of-intent signing date in the spring. Last season, it was April 16. Now, it has been pushed back to May 25 or 10 days after the NBA draft combine. Players may also have one NBA team tryout per year.
Until then, and when or if a decision has to be made on his future, Hayes will stay in the present and heed his own advice as far as something that he has discussed with his teammates — something that has really taken hold over the last 11 games, 10 of which have been victories for the Badgers.
"I've always told them," he said, "you don't have to be amazing. You don't have to be Frank (Kaminsky), You don't have to be Sam (Dekker) and you don't have to be Duje (Dukan) …"
All three players are on NBA rosters.
"Just do whatever you do," Hayes has preached. "Do it well. Play within yourself. Believe in yourself. And we'll be all right."
