Juvaris K. Hayes (born February 8, 1998) is an American basketball coach for the Merrimack Warriors and former player. He played college basketball for Merrimack and professionally in Europe.
| Merrimack Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| League | Northeast Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 8, 1998 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | St. Anthony (Jersey City, New Jersey) |
| College | Merrimack (2016–2020) |
| NBA draft | 2020: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2020–2023 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 2 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2020–2021 | Tigers Tübingen |
| 2021 | Itzehoe Eagles |
| 2022–2023 | BC TSU Tbilisi |
| As coach: | |
| 2023–present | Merrimack (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life and high school edit
Hayes grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, and attended St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley.[1] As a senior, Hayes helped lead the Friars to a 32–0 record and a win in the 2016 Tournament of Champions, the last state title of Hurley's career before St. Anthony closed in 2017.[2]
College career edit
As a true freshman, Hayes was named the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Rookie of the Year and second team All-NE10 after averaging 13.9 points and leading NCAA Division II with 9.3 assists. He was named first team All-NE10 after leading the team with 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game and led the entire NCAA with 3.9 steals per game and 255 total assists and 124 total steals.[3] As a junior, Hayes was again named first team All-NE10 and the conference Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 19.3 points, 6.6 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.9 steals per game which led the nation for a second straight season.[4]
Merrimack transitioned to NCAA Division I going into his senior season. Hayes broke the NCAA's career steals record for all divisions on February 23, 2020, against Mount Saint Mary's.[5][6] Hayes finished the season averaging 10.7 points, 6.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and was the nation's leader with 3.9 steals per game although, because of Merrimack's transition to Division 1, he was not recognized as Division I's steals leader. He was named first team Northeast Conference (NEC) as well as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and received the Lefty Driesell Award as the nation's best defensive player.[7]
Professional career edit
On August 20, 2020, Hayes signed with Tigers Tübingen of the German ProA.[8] On July 19, 2021, he signed with Itzehoe Eagles, a team that had recently been promoted to the German ProA.[9] Hayes averaged 4.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 12 games. He parted ways with the team on December 21.[10] On February 8, 2022, Hayes signed with BC TSU Tbilisi of the Georgian Superliga.[11]
Coaching career edit
Hayes retired from professional basketball was hired by Merrimack as an assistant coach on August 9, 2023.[12]
References edit
- ^ Hewitt, Steve (February 5, 2018). "College basketball notebook: Merrimack's Juvaris Hayes makes most of chance". Boston Herald.
- ^ Zagora, Adam (February 28, 2020). "March Madness 2020: Bob Hurley's legacy at St. Anthony's lives on in NEC Champion Merrimack, even if Warriors can't go dancing". NJ.com.
- ^ Cavadi, Wayne (October 30, 2018). "Expect these 11 players to make an impact in the 2018-19 DII men's basketball season". NCAA.com.
- ^ Steinberg, Russell (October 25, 2019). "This is Merrimack's chance to make noise in Division I". MidMajorMadness.com. SB Nation.
- ^ "Juvaris Hayes Sets All-Time NCAA Steals Record - the Beacon".
- ^ "Merrimack's Hayes sets NCAA steals record". The Eagle-Tribune. February 23, 2020.
- ^ "NEC honors Hayes, Gallo with major awards". The Eagle-Tribune. March 5, 2020.
- ^ "Tigers Tübingen to sign Juvaris Hayes". Sportando. August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ "Juvaris Hayes soll die Itzehoe Eagles führen". 2basketballbundesliga.de (in German). July 19, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ "Juvaris Hayes geht". Itzehoe Eagles (in German). December 21, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ Chelidze, Dimitri (February 8, 2022). "Tbilisi State University lands Juvaris Hayes, ex Itzehoe". Eurobasket. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ "Merrimack All-Time Great Juvaris Hayes To Join Men's Basketball Coaching Staff". NortheastConference.org (Press release). August 9, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.