Nigel Hayes On Wisconsin, Social Justice, and the NCAA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nigel Hayes is far from shy. Better yet, he wants to be heard. The Wisconsin senior forward has spent most of his college career excelling on the court and now is continuing to do all he can to make a difference off of it as well.

Sitting inside the Marriott Wardman Park on Thursday afternoon for Big Ten Basketball Media Day, the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and only unanimous All-Big Ten Team selection not only confidently answered the questions about his game and team, which is expected to do big things, but also shared his passionate opinions on social justice and the NCAA.

Hayes, the 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists last season, has joined teammate Bronson Koenig in speaking out about social justice recently. 

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard addressed the subject, too:

“I think first thing as you sit down both individually and as a team, and we've talked about it as a team a few times as well, why are you taking the stance that you are? What is your knowledge base behind it? Why is it important to you? Anybody can make a statement. Anybody can take a position. But to have the knowledge and watch the knowledge and those two individuals grow and develop. And as I met with both of them, the depth and broadness of their understanding of issues is mind-blowing at times. I’m extremely proud of them from the standpoint of they’ve used their college experience to go way beyond just being an athlete. They've used that to expand their knowledge base, to use the platform to try to help others, and that's the one thing as we've gone through, and, for example, Bronson sat down and talked about going to North Dakota, OK, understand what are the ramifications? What is the cause and effect? 

“Same thing with Nigel. What could happen in 12 hours, 12 days, 12 months? Let's think all this through. We support you no matter what you want to do, we’ll support you, and I applaud them for taking their stances and what they've done, because they've been a very educated decision behind it. But also at the same time, as I mentioned, everybody can take a stand, but are you going to put some action behind it? Everybody can point out what the problem is, what can we do to make this be a part of the solution? And in both those individuals cases, Bronson obviously went to North Dakota and spent a weekend out there and drove out 12 hours and spent time with people sitting in at the pipeline and protesting there. And Nigel has been very involved now in the Boys & Girls Club and going to speak to youth groups in Madison.

“So both have obviously made a statement with words, but also are putting actions into place to help make a difference and try to help those that are coming behind. That's what we always talked about. Can you make it better for those coming behind you and make it better for them than what you had it? And they've both used personal actions behind their statements to make things better. That's what you're proud of. They’ve really embraced the whole student-athlete experience and gone well beyond just wearing that uniform.”

Hayes isn’t looking to make a quiet contribution. He is set on making a loud impact.