Wisconsin Basketball: Thank you, Nigel Hayes
It’s been a week since the Wisconsin Badgers lost their Sweet 16 heartbreaker to the Florida Gators.
One week has passed, and I know a lot of Wisconsin Badgers fans are still finding it difficult to get over the painful buzzer-beating loss to the Florida Gators. Trust me, I am too.
While the college basketball season is done and over, I can already feel a new era shifting in the Wisconsin men’s basketball program. The four seniors: Bronson Koenig, Nigel Hayes, Zak Showalter, and Vitto Brown did so much and were a part of some amazing times during their careers at Wisconsin.
Related Story: Thank You, Seniors
That is why one letter to all four is not enough and the amount of words needed to say everything that would need to be said about each player would be far too much. So here is my thank you letter to Nigel Hayes:
There are a lot of things that could be said to Nigel regarding his play on the basketball court. Besides Sam Dekker, Hayes one of the first and only players to ever get significant playing time under Bo Ryan as a freshman. His contributions on the court provided depth and scoring off the bench during the Final Four runs his freshman and sophomore year.
Despite being a 12.4 point, five rebound player in his career at Wisconsin, Hayes put up with tons of scrutiny and criticism and yet still remained to himself and worked hard to get better.
Thank you for tuning out the critics and playing until the very end for your teammates. The Big Ten Tournament and NCAA run could not have happened without you and your selfless play. Thanks for having goals for the program and being one of the main reasons the Badgers expect so much from you and the team. Without your help leading the Badgers to the Final Four in back-to-back years, the expectations would not be where they are now.
Next: Read a thank you note to Vitto Brown
Thank you for returning for your senior year and doing everything you could to make sure us fans saw another championship. It may not have turned out the way we wanted it to, but not a lot of people think of the fans and school first like you did.
Next: Read a thank you note to Zak Showalter
Thank you for being a voice on and off the court, fighting for what you believe in and not letting anyone else tell you differently. And most importantly, thank you for the best four-year run that Badgers fans got to experience in a very, very long time.