Former Wisconsin basketball star Nigel Hayes has completed his sixth season as a professional basketball player and it was arguably his best. He led Fenerbahçe Beko to the Turkish Super League championship and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Congratulations to Nigel Hayes on a great season with Fenerbahçe Beko as the team recently won the Turkish Championship and Nigel was named MVP.
Earlier this year, Nigel also set a European league point record with the first 50-point game in Euroleague history 👏 pic.twitter.com/sbSejBcSk2
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) 17 June 2024
In his second season with Fenerbahçe, he averaged 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 31.5 minutes per game – all career highs for the 29-year-old, who played for Wisconsin from 2013 to 2017 and helped the Badgers to two consecutive Final Four appearances and a berth in the 2015 national title game.
On March 29, Hayes scored a record-breaking 50 points in Euroleague competition against Alba Berlin, hitting 18 of 27 field goals and 9 of 16 from beyond the three-point line, the most points scored in a single game in league history.
He was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the season.
All points from Nigel Hayes-Davis, who holds the title of player who scored the most points in a EuroLeague game tonight with 50 points! 👇✨@NIGEL_HAYES #YellowLegacy #EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/PcHDXJRZQO
— Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) March 29, 2024
Hayes was an all-conference player for the Badgers in the mid-2010s but struggled to find his footing in the NBA, playing a total of nine games for the Lakers, Raptors and Kings.
He has officially found a home in Europe. Fenerbahçe is the third professional club he has played for abroad, after stints at the Lithuanian club Žalgiris and the Spanish club Barcelona.
