Nigel Hayes will be back at Wisconsin for his senior year.
Madison.com's Jim Polzin reported Tuesday that Hayes — who earned All-Big Ten First Team honors last season — will withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and come back to the Badgers for the 2016-17 campaign.
Hayes is one of the latest Big Ten players to take advantage of new rules that allow underclassmen to test the NBA Draft process and work out with NBA teams without hiring an agent while still being able to return to school with their NCAA eligibility intact. The rules are undoubtedly beneficial for the players, who can learn more about their professional future and still take needed time to develop at the college level.
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"Getting the opportunity to gather information about the NBA and visit with professionals at that level was a really valuable experience for me," Hayes said in the team's official announcement. "Playing in the NBA still remains an important goal for me, but that can wait another year. I’m excited to get back to work to pursue that dream, as well as the dream of getting my degree and helping my teammates, my brothers, bring a championship to Wisconsin."
There had been talk that Hayes needed another collegiate season and that he wasn't quite ready for the NBA. Despite averaging 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season as one of the best players in the Big Ten, Hayes wasn't always consistent and saw his shooting numbers drop from his sophomore season. He shot 36.8 percent from the field and 29.3 percent from 3-point range last season after shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from 3-point range during the 2014-15 campaign, which culminated in Wisconsin's second straight trip to the Final Four.
That being said, Hayes' return is obviously a big deal for the Badgers, who will return their entire starting lineup and almost their entire roster in Greg Gard's first full season as head coach. Last season, with Gard taking over for a retiring Bo Ryan midway through the campaign, Wisconsin was still one of the Big Ten's best teams, turning things around and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Hayes returns alongside Ethan Happ, Bronson Koenig, Vitto Brown and Zak Showalter in the starting five.
Hayes' return could make the Badgers the Big Ten favorite heading into 2016-17.