Georgetown's Bradley Hayes
Unless you were a family member, a close friend or sat next to him in psychology class, you were probably unaware of just who Bradley Hayes was coming into this season.
For three years Hayes, Georgetown’s 7-0, 275-pound senior center, was more or less a fixture on John Thompson III’s bench. He appeared in a handful of games in each season, mostly in cameo appearances, and managed to score all of 30 points in his previous three seasons. In basketball playing-time terms, it was equivalent to maybe a step above Witness Protection.
But if you’ve been paying even a little attention to the college basketball season so far this year, a lot more people know who Hayes is now - and many more will know his name in the months to come. That comes from Hayes himself.
“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised at myself,” Hayes told BIGEAST.com. “I always expect a lot of myself and to be honest I expect a lot more out of myself than how I’ve been playing. I mean it feels good for people to tell me that I’ve had a good game but as far as my own personal standards I feel I can do a lot better and I’m ready to show I can do a lot better.”
Hayes burst into the season in a big way when he logged a 19-point, 12-rebound, double-double effort in a surprising season-opening loss to Radford in double overtime. Since then, with the exception of a couple of hiccups against Wisconsin and Duke when he was limited due to foul trouble, Hayes has flirted with double-doubles in almost every outing. He came into the season with just 10 career field goals and just seven in all of last season. But he scored seven alone against Radford and has continued to provide the Hoyas with top-shelf play ever since.
“I knew I could do stuff like that,” Hayes said. “I think it was just a matter of confidence. In my first three years whenever I would come in (to a game) I was worried about messing up and now when I’m in, I’m just worried about winning and I think my play shows that.”
Two of Hayes’ best outings of the season may have been his latest two efforts as he scored a team-best 21 points with eight rebounds against old rival Syracuse before hanging up his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards in a 74-57 win over Brown on Pearl Harbor Day.
For Hayes, the victory over the Orange was particularly sweet.
“It felt good,” Hayes said. “I was telling my coach after the game that I was waiting three years to play Syracuse and beat them. It felt good to finally get that off my chest and off my “To-Do” list.”
So is Hayes taking out his frustration of sitting for three seasons on opponents this year? He said it was more a case of just being anxious to show what he could do when given a chance.
“I came from the same situation in high school,” said Hayes, a Jacksonville, Fla., native. “I didn’t get a lot of playing time in my freshman or sophomore years and then I got hurt so I couldn’t play my junior year. So I only had my senior year of high school to play. So I was kind of used to taking those (first) three years and sitting out and then having to come out that one year and show what I can do. I wasn’t frustrated, but I was anxious to get on the court.”
Unlike past seasons, Hayes knew he was going to be counted on to play a major role this year especially with the graduations for 6-10 Josh Smith and 6-9 Mikael Hopkins, two departures that left the Hoyas a little leaner in the paint.
“I knew I was going to be relied on a lot to come in and be a leader,” said Hayes, who is averaging 11.9 points and team-leading 6.9 rebounds this season. “I knew they were going to depend on me a lot on both the offensive and defensive sides. So really I just tried to prepare myself mentally. I knew I was prepared physically and I knew I was prepared to go out there on the court and play hard, but I had to get my mind right to make sure I was ready to lead my team and do what I could do to contribute to the team and help them win.”
Hayes said he can trace his success this season to his 10-minute cameo in last March’s NCAA Tournament game against Eastern Washington in which he scored eight points and pulled down six rebounds in a 84-74 Georgetown victory. It was the day he opened some eyes.
“I think last year’s performance has something to do with (this year),” Hayes said. “When I came into the game last year in the tournament and did what I did, I think that gave my coaches more confidence in me and allowed them to trust me a little bit more. Knowing that I have my coach’s trust and their confidence allowed me to play a lot better.”
So with the Hoyas finding a new dominant big man in Hayes to go along with such talents as D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, L.J. Peak and Isaac Copeland to name a few, just how good can these Hoyas be this season?
“I think we can be very good,” Hayes said. “We still have a lot of stuff to work on though, but it’s still early in the season so we have time to work on those things. But if everything falls into place and everyone does what they are supposed to do I think we can be a really good team.”
And maybe a deep run in a certain March tournament for Georgetown in Hayes’ final season?
“My perfect senior year would be going all the way to the championship and winning it,” Hayes said. “That’s been my goal ever since I got here. Wherever I go I like to leave it better than when I got there. In my eyes that’s putting a banner up on the wall.”