Nearly three weeks after Wisconsin men’s basketball head coach Greg Gard announced that they would be submitting junior forward Nigel Hayes’ name to the NBA draft advisory committee, Hayes officially decided Wednesday to enter his name into the 2016 draft, but not hire an agent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Wisconsin junior Nigel Hayes will enter the 2016 NBA Draft, but will not immediately sign with an agent, sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 20, 2016
The move is, once again, very low-risk for Hayes, who will have until May 25 to withdraw his name from draft consideration, allowing him to return to school for his senior season with Wisconsin.
The most important dates for Hayes moving forward will be May 11 through May 15, as that is when the 2016 NBA Draft Combine is set to take place. Hayes, however, has not yet received an invite, and whether he does or not will play heavily into his final decision.
Men’s basketball: What Badgers will miss if Hayes decides to go pro
After entering the season projected as a potential first-round pick, a rough end to his junior campaign has left Hayes completely off draft boards, as he is nowhere to be found on DraftExpress’ latest mock draft.
Hayes averaged 15.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year, but managed to shoot just 29.3 percent from behind the arc and 36.8 percent overall from the field.
In the Badgers’ four postseason games to end the 2015-16 season, the junior made just two of his 21 three-point attempts and shot a poor 11-of-54 from the field overall.
Men’s basketball: Despite rough end to season, Hayes’ NBA potential remains intriguing
