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Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, a Whitmer High graduate, has made a name for himself during the Badgers’ back-to-back Final Four trips.
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Loquacious and tenacious, Nigel Hayes' personality, game contagious

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Loquacious and tenacious, Nigel Hayes' personality, game contagious

Whitmer grad gains audience during Badgers tournament run

INDIANAPOLIS — Before the Wisconsin basketball team took the court for practice at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday, Nigel Hayes had a riddle he just had to share with coach Bo Ryan.

“Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl use the bathroom?” he said.

With a sheepish grin, Hayes paused for the punch line.

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“Because,” he said, “The ‘P’ is silent.”

It was Nigel being Nigel — and America is loving him for it.

PHOTO GALLERY: Nigel Hayes through the years

As the Badgers hope to sideswipe top-seeded Kentucky’s pursuit of perfection in today’s national semifinals, their playful sophomore forward from Toledo has come to represent what many see as the best of college athletics.

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It is one thing to make the Final Four in each of your first two seasons of college — a double dip on the sport’s biggest stage no other Toledo native has matched. It is another thing entirely to become an overnight star.

Hayes said he is just being himself, but along the way this month, he has made school cool with his SAT-level trolling of the NCAA tournament’s stenographers, cast a light on an anonymous profession, and kept Wisconsin and its 67-year-old coach loose in advance of — to suggest the next word of the day — its Sisyphean challenge against the unbeaten and top-ranked Wildcats (38-0).

In the audience Friday for a news conference announcing Badgers forward Frank Kaminsky as the national player of the year, he called for the microphone and asked the first question. He posed as an “intrasquad team relations” reporter for “Badgers Beat.”

Later, addressing a warehouse-sized room filled with reporters, Hayes dropped his latest stumper.

“Sticking to tradition, ‘prestidigitation,’ ” he said. “And hello, Mr. Stenographer.”

Don’t let Hayes’ lighter side fool you.

He graduated from Whitmer with a 4.2 grade-point average and is one of three athletes in a lawsuit filed by sports attorney Jeffrey Kessler that seeks free-market compensation for college athletes. A hearing is scheduled in June. (Hayes has been advised not to comment on the case.)

Hayes’ game, too, speaks to his bigger aspirations.

He set his alarm for 4:52 a.m. each morning last summer, then headed to the gym to become a more complete player. One measure of that drive: After not attempting a single 3-pointer and shooting 58 percent from the foul line last season, he is now shooting 38 percent from the arc (35 of 92) and 75 percent on free throws.

In all, the 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward averages 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds as the third option behind Kaminsky and junior forward Sam Dekker. He has waited a year for this rematch with Kentucky, which beat the Badgers 74-73 in a Final Four thriller last year.

Still, beyond the court, Hayes must admit he is enjoying “all this hoopla.”

Hayes’ videos as “Nigel Burgundy” made the rounds online last year, but it was nothing like the buzz that has followed his exchanges with the men and women transcribing the Badgers’ tournament news conferences. A vocabulary enthusiast growing up, Hayes first attempted to baffle the stenographer during the opening rounds in Omaha, Neb.

“Before I answer that question,” he replied to one reporter, “I’d like to say a few words: Cattywampus, onomatopoeia, and antidisestablishmentarianism.”

So began the quirkiest tradition of the NCAA tournament. Hayes’ news conferences have since left the typists on their toes — syzygy, zephyr, and soliloquy were among his latest tests — and, in one case, blushing. During a news conference at the West Regional in Los Angeles last weekend, Hayes memorably spotted the stenographer and whispered to Kaminsky, “God, she’s beautiful.”

Alas, his microphone was on. Hayes buried his face in his hands.

Later that day, he sent the stenographer, 43-year-old Debra Bollman, a message on Twitter.

“Apologies to @debrabollman for ‘accidentally’ expressing her pulchritude,” Hayes said, using a synonym for beauty. “I meant no disrespect, ma’am.”

Bollman said no apology was necessary. Stenographers everywhere swooned.

Lee Carey, who oversees the court reporter program at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, said Hayes has inspired a surge of interest in a job that is not exactly the stuff of childhood dreams. She has fielded several calls from interested students the past two weeks.

“Our association and our profession has for at least the last 10 years tried to figure out what is the best way possible to get this amazing career out there,” Carey said in a phone interview. “We're a very high-paid, very rewarding field. It’s fun.

“This just kind of fell into our lap, and I think it’s been so well received because of the sincerity of it all. ... No words can really describe how much for has meant to all of us. Normally, we’re paid to be a fly on the wall to record these things. It’s been nice to have that light shined on us.”

As usual, Ryan looked on with amusement during Friday’s news conference.

“He’s my kind of guy,” he said. “I’ve always respected a man who thinks outside the proverbial box.”

If Hayes talks a big (word) game, that is fine by his coach and teammates. “He backs up his bantering,” Ryan said, “I can tell you that.”

Contact David Briggs at: dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084 or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.

First Published April 4, 2015, 4:54 a.m.

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Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, a Whitmer High graduate, has made a name for himself during the Badgers’ back-to-back Final Four trips.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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