The connection between athletes and fans is often distant. Fans observe from afar as athletes make plays in the arena. There is rarely face-to-face, one-on-one interaction between player and fan.
Nigel Hayes broke that norm Friday afternoon. After making a promise via Twitter to deliver doughnuts to all students with season tickets if the tickets sold out in under five minutes—they sold out in three minutes—Hayes delivered.
Receiving a generous donation from Hy-Vee, Hayes was saved from shelling out big bucks for a massive doughnut purchase. In front of the Kohl Center, students who bought season tickets came up one-by-one to Hayes, who handed each student a delicious bakery item with a smile and a thank you for supporting the team.
In a world filled with athletes with giant egos who can barely find time to sign a few autographs, Hayes represented a breath of fresh air Friday.
“I kind of selfishly would like to hand out all of them personally. So that way I can be like, ‘Hey, one day I passed out 2,000 doughnuts,’” Hayes said.
And he did. The other players helped; most of the team was there to help check names and interact with the mammoth line that formed along Dayton Street. Head coach Greg Gard even helped give out napkins.
But Nigel was the only one who handed out doughnuts. And he thoroughly enjoyed it. He genuinely thanked each student for their support and frequently paused to take selfies with excited fans.
For these student fans, it was a chance to interact with the star of the basketball team, the most well-known athlete on the campus. The one usually dazzling on the court and making jokes during press conferences. It wasn’t staged. It wasn’t some marketing stunt manufactured by the public relations department. Hayes made a genuine connection with his classmates and fans, something that rarely happens, even in college athletics.
“I’m extremely proud [of our fanbase],” Hayes said. “It makes you a little happy, gives you butterflies inside to see that either, one, they really wanted doughnuts or, two, they really think that this is going to be a pretty special year for us.”
It certainly has the potential to be a special year for the Badgers. With basically the entirety of a team that just missed the Elite Eight returning, Wisconsin is poised to make another Final Four run.
But before Hayes can get started this season, he had to fulfill his promise to the student body.
“I guess that’s the pitfall of promising free food to college students, they would not let you back away from that,” Hayes said. “We all know, especially the college kids, whenever there is free food, we will be there or we will do what needs to be done to receive the free food.”
Two years ago, Wisconsin clinched the Big Ten title with a decisive victory over Michigan State in the Kohl Center. The players rushed the student section, running up and down the aisles, high-fiving the Grateful Red.
Wisconsin has the ability to create a moment like that again. Only this time, hundreds of student section members will have already met the team and its superstar up close and personal. It was a special moment in 2015, but if the Badgers can do it again in 2017, it will be even more special.
