Wisconsin Badgers star Nigel Hayes announced Tuesday he will be returning to Madison for his senior season.
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In his career, Hayes has averaged 11.9 points per contest, with a 15.7 ppg average past year. A year ago two of the Badgers went in the first round, Frank Kaminsky to the Hornets and Sam Dekker to the Rockets. He shot 36.8 percent from the field and 29.3 percent from 3-point range last season after shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from 3-point range during the 2014-15 campaign, which culminated in Wisconsin’s second straight trip to the Final Four.
After attending the National Basketball Association draft combine a few weeks ago Hayes worked out for a number of National Basketball Association teams including Boston, Utah, Phoenix and Atlanta.
Though he entered his junior year projected as high as a first-round pick in some mock drafts, Hayes saw his stock fall over the past year. It has been reported forward Nigel Hayes will return for his senior season at Wisconsin. UW will also bring back starting guards Bronson Koenig and Zak Showalter and starting forwards Vitto Brown and Ethan Happ. With Hayes returning, the Wisconsin Badgers should be a preseason top 25 team and one among favorites to win the Big Ten Conference Championship.
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While Hayes had a tendency to disappear for stretches last season he will nearly certainly be working on his conditioning and consistency during his final season.
