Former Wisconsin basketball standout captures EuroLeague title, takes home MVP
Former Wisconsin men's basketball standout Nigel Hayes-Davis capped his season with a EuroLeague title and Final Four MVP honors for Fenerbahçe.
You don’t prepare a speech unless you know you’ve finally arrived. And former Wisconsin men’s basketball forward Nigel Hayes-Davis? He arrived.
Moments after helping lead Fenerbahçe to an 80–71 win over AS Monaco in the 2025 EuroLeague championship, Hayes spoke with a reporter at Etihad Arena—and everything he’d worked for poured out.
The former Badgers standout had just been named Final Four MVP after posting a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. He shot just 4-for-13 from the field, but it didn’t matter—he went a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line and impacted the game in every way imaginable. It wasn’t the cleanest shooting night. But it was a dominant one. And it was his moment.
“You know, I’ve had this speech written down on my phone of what I was going to say. And I practiced it last night,” Hayes said in his postgame interview. “I mean, it makes me a little emotional talking about it. But I work so hard, you know, like all the time from growing up in high school.”
Back in Toledo, Ohio, Hayes-Davis was far from a household name. Despite stuffing the stat sheet at Whitmer High School—posting career totals of 1,333 points, 766 rebounds, and 294 assists—he didn’t win Mr. Basketball in Ohio. He wasn’t a McDonald’s All-American. But he was determined to become one of the best.
“My mom knows,” Hayes said. “I would go to school at 6 a.m., and I would work. And I would go to school and football practice. Then I would go back to the gym. I’d get home at 8 or 9 o’clock at night.”
It was that same tireless work ethic that earned him a scholarship to Wisconsin as a member of the 2013 recruiting class under Hall of Fame head coach Bo Ryan. Hayes chose the Badgers over scholarship offers from Minnesota, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Xavier, Akron, and others.
There, Hayes appeared in 150 games, racked up 1,857 points, and helped lead the Badgers to back-to-back Final Fours. He earned Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors as a freshman, was a First-Team All-Big Ten pick in 2016, and twice made the Third Team. Put it all together, and you’re looking at one of the most accomplished résumés in program history.
“I wasn’t McDonald’s All-American," Hayes said. "I didn’t win Mr. Basketball. I go to college. I’m in the gym at 5 a.m. We have lift at 7. I’m working. I’m working. I’m working. Friday night, Saturday night, number one party school in the country. I’m in the gym, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock.”
Still, no national championship. No Naismith Award. No Player of the Year honors. His journey, once again, met with resistance. He has to keep working.
“I wasn’t player of the year. I wasn’t Naismith player of the year. I lost in the national championship game again. I kept working, keep working.”
Then came the NBA dream—and with it, another roadblock. Hayes-Davis went undrafted in 2017, and his time in the association was short-lived: nine total games with the Kings, Raptors, and Lakers. Just a cup of coffee. But quitting? That’s never been part of his vocabulary.
“I go undrafted, keep working. I end up overseas, and you have to deal with that. As an American growing up, your dream is to play in the NBA. And when that doesn’t happen, you keep working, keep working.”
That led him to Europe—first Galatasaray, then Žalgiris in Lithuania, and Barcelona after that. For every new jersey, there was another opportunity to prove himself. To show he was one of the best handful of basketball players in the world, even if it wasn’t happening at the NBA level.
“Žalgiris, get to EuroLeague with Shars, working. I’ve got four a days in Žalgiris. You can ask the arena staff. I’m in there four times a day," Hayes reflected. "Go to Barcelona. Worst year of my life. I’m still working and going to the gym. I get dinner. Work, work, late at night, early mornings. Landing in other cities when we have games. Going to the gym.”
Finally, in Istanbul, the years of sacrifice turned into something tangible.
During the 2024-25 EuroLeague season, Hayes averaged 13.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in just over 25 minutes per game—shooting 50.2% from the field and 36.7% from beyond the arc—while cementing himself as one of the most efficient two-way wings in all of Europe.
And then Hayes made history—dropping 50 points against ALBA Berlin, the most ever scored in a single EuroLeague game. He did it on 18-of-27 shooting from the field, including 9-of-16 from behind the 3-point line and 5-of-7 at the charity stripe, powering Fenerbahçe to a 103–68 win.
But Hayes saved his finest moment for last. Leading Fenerbahçe Beko to the EuroLeague title in 2025, where he was named the Final Four MVP.
And standing at center court, MVP trophy in hand, he finished his story.
"And now I’ve won it," said Hayes. "Now, you know, now I’m the best.”
Hayes never stopped working, no matter what. Not when he was overlooked in high school. Not when he fell just short of a national title at Wisconsin. Not when Hayes was thousands of miles from home, chasing a dream he was told didn’t belong to him—but he made it his anyway
And now, the expectation is that Hayes will put a bow on his overseas career—or at least put it on hold—for one last run at the NBA. He owes it to himself.
After earning two All-EuroLeague First Team honors, setting the league’s single-game scoring record with 50 points, winning 2025 Final Four MVP, and spending some time with the 2024 USA Basketball Select Team, this past year has shown he’s more than earned that chance.
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he's been one of my faves for a long time, so happy to see Nigel's work pay off