Often overshadowed by stars Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, Nigel Hayes is regularly forgotten as one of the integral pieces in the Badgers’ frontcourt. After winning the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season, Hayes has continued to develop as a solid-all around forward.
This season, the versatile Hayes has averaged 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game and has played stout defense against several prolific offensive players. Hayes’ presence has undoubtedly made a significant impact on the Badgers’ success this season, but many fans haven’t learned much about the sophomore’s off-court persona.
Hayes, some would say, has been the most entertaining and humorous player for Wisconsin for the last two years.
The origins of Hayes’ comedian alter ego came near the end of last season during the annual March Madness tournament. It was here where he faced a peculiar situation.
“It was actually an accident, it was a stroke of luck. We were preparing for our first tournament game versus American,” Hayes said. “[Assistant Director of Athletic Communications] Patrick Herb came to me and said that they usually have a guy interview the players and asked if I wanted to do it.”
At first, Hayes was hesitant on interviewing players. He had no idea whether this was to be a serious task or if it should be conducted in a loose and relaxed manner. But after receiving the green light of approaching the interviewing in a comedic way, Hayes dove straight into being the reporter for the day.
“We came up with the name Nigel Burgundy as a reporter as everybody knows from ‘Anchorman.’ And then the reviews and feedback it got from the Badger faithful was extraordinary and then P-Herb mentioned if I wanted to do it again,” Hayes recalled.
From that day forward, Hayes acted as the team interviewer in each round of last year’s NCAA tournament, bringing his amusing and lively personality to every contest.
At the conclusion of last year’s tourney, however, Hayes did not stop with Nigel Burgundy. He continued with the alter-ego during finals week, where he interviewed students from across campus about their study habits. He also took the character to a UW golf outing where he interviewed Barry Alvarez, Ron Dayne and Andy North.
Hayes’ interviews can be easily accessed on the Internet and have become popular within the last year, but he said his teammates have poked fun at his videos.
“According to the team I’m actually corny,” Hayes joked. “They said the Burgundy videos were all corny.”
Though heckled for his old-fashioned humor, Hayes doesn’t see himself as the corniest player in the locker room.
“Believe it or not Trae is the corniest of all in the locker room and he’ll admit to himself that he tries very hard to create jokes, create laughter,” Hayes said. “It works, but we’re laughing at him, not with him.”
Without question, Hayes has been a true joy for the Badger squad in the last two years. With the NCAA tournament quickly approaching, one should expect Nigel Burgundy to soon appear around the locker room and all around campus.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Barry Alvarez and Andy North were UW-Madison alumni.
