Kevarrius Hayes (13) will lead classmates KeVaughn Allen and Jalen Hudson, into their "Senior Night" home finale Wednesday with a lot on the line against 10th-ranked LSU.
Senior Soldier: Hayes Leads '19 Class Into O'Dome Finale vs LSU
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Three weeks earlier, Kevarrius Hayes had sensed the Florida basketball team was fraying apart after a third straight loss and took action he believed needed to be handled sans the coaching staff. He called a players-only meeting and opened a line of communication in the locker room that struck the right chord at the right time. The Gators, a team teetering on the brink, reeled off five straight victories to climb back into the NCAA Tournament at-large berth conversation.
Then came Saturday night.
As Hayes answered post-game inquiries about UF's deflating 61-55 no-show of a home loss to struggling Georgia, it was difficult to determine what the senior tone-setter was more disappointed with; the actual defeat or the fact he missed all the signals leading up to it.
"The last five games we had that fight, that fire, but it kind of died down a little bit the last couple days," Hayes said. "I take the blame for that."
There was plenty of blame to go around, actually, but the 6-foot-9, 227-pound Hayes has been UF's man in the middle, defensive catalyst and loudest on-court voice for the better part of three seasons. That he would point a finger at himself was no surprise. In 2018-19, though, his role elevated to that of elder statesman and leader of a team that has turned to a trio of freshmen starters as building blocks for a future that looks for very bright.
But what of the present? The Gators still have a say in how the '18-19 season's story ends, with a pivotal chapter set for Wednesday night when UF (17-12, 9-7) faces No. 10 LSU (24-5, 14-2) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center in what will be the final home game for Hayes and fellow seniors KeVaughn Allen and Jalen Hudson. Collectively, they can't erase what happened against Georgia four days ago, but the chance to atone against an opponent tied for the lead in the Southeastern Conference and looking to clinch a share of its first league title in 10 years is all this group could ask for right now.
When Kevarrius Hayes (13) exits his UF career, he'll do so as the No. 2 shot-blocker in school history, one of only two players (along with Dwayne Schintzius) to reach 200 for his career.
Everyone knows Hayes (a.k.a. "Spidey," as in his wiry Marvel Comics alter ego) will leave everything on the floor against the Tigers, but it's up to the rest of the Gators to follow his lead and make it a memorable — and meaningful — swan-song night at the O'Dome.
Look for Hayes to unleash four seasons of unbridled energy.
"This has become his team," UF coach Mike White said. "He's the guy at meetings, he's the guy in the locker room, he's the guy raising his hand to ask questions to us, or even posing a thought; 'Coach what about this?' I have daily talks with him. He's a liaison between his teammates and our staff. He's been a good leader for these guys. He's not perfect, but he cares and he's trying, and he's grown as a leader every day."
That leadership chip traces to his class-president days at Live Oak (Fla.) Suwannee High and have been put to use in the off-the-floor athletic arena at UF, with Hayes serving for two years on the Southeastern Conference's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group that provides athletes a voice to campus leaders and the league office. For Hayes, these duties came naturally.
They were in his blood.
Verrice Hayes, his mother, will be in the house for her only child's senior sendoff Wednesday. She was there Saturday night, as well, after making the drive last week from Texas, where she's a captain on active duty in the United States Army and stationed at Fort Hood. She was in O'Dome Section 111 watching her kid's next-to-last home game when everything kind of hit her.
"I got a little emotional," said Verrice, whose son has sprouted from being the tallest and most uncoordinated little kid on the court to being an end-to-end antelope and the No. 2 shot-blocker in UF history. "I'll probably be even more emotional [Wednesday]. It's all happened so fast."
Hayes and his mom are extremely close, but they spent a lot of time apart while Hayes was growing up in Live Oak, and starring at Suwannee High. His childhood and middle-school best friend was the oldest son of Hayes' eventual prep basketball coach at Suwannee.
Jeremy Ulmer was once a junior-college transfer from California who came to UF and played for Lon Kruger's first two Gators teams (1990-92). After college, he settled in the area and, in time, was hired to coach hoops at Suwannee, about 65 miles up Interstate-75 from the UF campus.
"Kevarrius was always at our house, hanging out, playing video games, sometimes for the whole weekend," Ulmer said.
Toward the end of Hayes' eighth grade year, his mom was called from the Army reserves and deployed to Kuwait, the start of several years of bouncing around the world as part of her obligations as an officer in the US military. While she was gone, Kevarrius moved in with the Ulmer family and began getting indoctrinated not only to basketball, but Florida basketball. The Ulmers never had to worry about discipline with Kevarrius. It was built in.
In time, so were the Gators.
"If they were on TV, we were watching," Hayes said.
When they weren't watching basketball, they were playing it. Hayes' motor skills caught up with his height at a convenient time. Good for him, good for Ulmer. Picture a more lithe version of Hayes sprinting up and down the gyms of north central Florida. That was Hayes, who averaged in the neighborhood of 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks per game on his way to three-star recruit status.
His mother missed a lot of those games, but appointment phone calls, Skyping and FaceTime kept mom in the loop from the other side of the globe
"They'd go stretches without talking, so they needed that," Ulmer said.
Above: Verrice Hayes and her son, then and now.
Below: Hayes and the Ulmer family (from left): Brant, Julie ("Mama J"), Blake and Coach Jeremy.
Hayes not only was excelling as a player, but was also a good student and began taking on those leadership roles. He was voted class president his sophomore, junior and senior years.
"There wasn't a whole lot to it, really. When it came to dealing with people. I had sort of come out of my shell in 10th grade and was kind of a social butterfly," Hayes said. "As far as making executive decisions, usually people were happy with them."
HIs basketball exploits led to a much bigger decision. Following an impressive 2013 summer on the AAU trail, Hayes got a phone call in the weeks leading up to his junior year. Billy Donovan was on the line to offer him a scholarship.
"When an opportunity presents itself, sometimes it's just hard to believe," Hayes said.
Kevarrius Hayes at his Suwannee High signing day, with mom via Skype.
He took no other official visits besides his one to UF and signed with the Gators in November 2014. Six months later, Donovan bolted for the NBA and Hayes was meeting with White and the new Gators staff. Hayes showed up that day in a suit, liked what he heard and told the coaches he was staying his orange and blue course.
In each of Hayes' first two seasons at UF, he backed up starting center John Egbunu. In each of those seasons, Egbunu suffered season-ending injuries. The first time elevated Hayes to the starting unit in four of the final five games, including a run to the quarterfinals of the NIT. As a sophomore, Hayes took over when Egbunu blew out his knee Feb. 14, 2017 at Auburn, starting 10 of the final 11 games, as the Gators made a rousing dash to the Elite Eight. His junior year also ended in the NCAA Tournament.
Now winding down his final season, his second as a full-time starter, Hayes is averaging 7.4 points on nearly 67-percent shooting, to go with 6.3 rebounds, while running his career blocked shot total to 203, the second-most in school history behind only 7-2 Dwayne Schintzius (1986-90).
Hayes also leads the team in communication, between and outside the lines. He also leads it in respect. Over the years, he's been incredibly generous with his free time, be it through his commitment to SAAC, but also through the UF Student-Athlete Enhancement process and hours of community service. Away from basketball, Hayes can often be found with his face buried in a video game, but his tech interests extend much further. Hayes and Ulmer, in fact, joined forces in building his dorm room desktop computer from parts ordered on-line. Works like a charm, too.
Like its operator.
"With Kevarrius, you know what you're getting every single day," White said.
On the court, defense has been Hayes' forte for his career, with offense sometimes coming as a struggle, be it making shots or even catching the ball cleanly. In a perfect world, Hayes would be playing the "4" position and looking for tips, lobs and offensive rebounds on one end, and excelling as a rim-protector and help-side defender on the other. UF's revolving door and injury-ravaged front-court situation the last few years, however, prevented that from happening. As the "5" man, Hayes never complained, but rather took the court and routinely bodied and banged against bigger, stronger, truer post men.
He's brought an impeccable daily worth ethic, be it on the practice floor or during games, and done whatever the coaches asked of him.
"He's always been a selfless player," Ulmer said. "I'm really proud of him."
Wrapped in that selfless package, though, is not just Hayes, the competitor, but also the leader. Last month, the latter two traits reared themselves in a most timely manner.
"He'll smile with you, he'll do anything with you...he's just a guy you want to have with you at all times - that's Spidey."
— Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 5, 2019
Verrice Hayes was in Knoxville, the day UF lost 73-61 at third-third-ranked Tennessee. She met with her son in the bowels of Thompson-Boling Arena after that third straight defeat (and fourth in five games) that had put the Gators at 12-11 on the season and 4-6 in conference play.
"We talked before they got on the bus and he was really questioning if he was the right person to lead this team," she said. "I told him to keep doing what he's doing, but to find to way to reach them so everyone can come together and be in agreement on what they wanted to do. He was really beating himself up for the losses and the record, but at no point did I want him thinking that what he had done wasn't enough."
After stewing on the flight home, and stewing some more overnight, Hayes sent a text early the next day to the team — players only — announcing an afternoon meeting at the practice facility. It was a Sunday, the players' day off, but there was business to attend to, minus the coaches.
"I just felt there was nothing more the coaches could do. They'd look at the film, show it to us, tell us what we did wrong and how to fix it, but the same things just kept happening," Hayes said. "I had to hear it from them because sometimes people are more willing to share when authority figures are not in the room. People can voice their opinions in ways we could help them individually, or as a whole. Some guys opened up more and we figured some stuff out. It was more about what we all wanted to make of the season. It's one thing to say you want to do something. It's another to look at each other, listen and know if their heart is really in it."
By all accounts, Hayes' intervention was the right move at the right time.
"I think it brought us closer, made us more focused and determined," freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard said.
The Gators won their next five games, including upset road victories at Alabama and LSU, as well as the first victory at Vanderbilt in five years.
No. 6 scorer in UF history, with 1,660 points, which is 19 shy of moving past Stacey Poole (1,678) into fifth place. … His career free-throw percentage of 87.6 percent ranks is the program's best all time. … Will start his 128th game Wednesday and tie with Andrew DeClercq for second-most by a Gator, while also in the top 10 in 3-point attempts (3rd with 710), 3-pointers made (7th with 241) and minutes (5th with 3,951), all numbers that will continue to climb. … Averaged double-figure scoring all four seasons, with a career average of 12.3 points per game. … On schedule to graduate in may with a degree in African-American studies.
Starter in the post since basically midway through his sophomore year following season-ending knee injury to John Egbunu. … UF's No. 2 all-time shot blocker with 203. … Has averaged 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds over his four seasons, with career-best 7.4 points and 5.8 boards as a senior. … Has totaled 692 points and 585 rebounds over 133 games, with 75 starts.
Transferred to UF from Virginia Tech in 2016 and sat out '16-17 season per NCAA rules. … Needs 35 points to leave Florida as No. 2 transfer scorer in school history behind Dorian Finney-Smith (1,220) and Vernon Macklin (787), having tallied 753 points as a Gators, plus another 515 in two seasons as a Hokie, for 1,268 for his collegiate career. Led UF in scoring as a fourth-year junior, at 15.5 points per game, with career-high 35 in double-overtime win against Gonzaga in PK80 Invitation at Portland, Ore. … Graduated last August with degree in telecommunications and in May will be halfway toward master's degree in sports administration.
Served as a team manager for three seasons, then was promoted to walk-on player for the 2017-18 season, and awarded a scholarship at start of the '18-19 second semester. … Scored his first career point on a free throw against North Florida and first career field goal against Stanford in the PK80, both last season. Got his second field goal this season against Butler. … Six points and one rebound for his career. … Graduated with a telecommunications degree in 2017 and will complete his master's work in the same field in May.
Just like few could have seen that winning streak coming, few could have seen the Gators falling so utterly flat with so much on the line; at the O'Dome, no less.
Hayes, though, may have looked past the warning signs.
"I understand, when you get going, everybody starts to feel a little better about themselves," he said. "But you have to keep that same mentality that you can still go out there and lose a game."
Now, in his final home appearance alongside Allen and Hudson, Hayes must lift the Gators off the mat and muster up a collective mentality that they can still go out and win a game. The next one. The last one at home.
It's Kevarrius Hayes' team. He's taken ownership in making the most of whatever is left. From her spot in Section 111, Capt. Verrice Hayes will be fixated on No. 13, the veteran soldier on this Florida team.
"Something like this makes you realize that he's all grown up now," she said. "I know it will be important to him."
Yes, it'll be an emotional night for the Hayes family. For their season's sake, it needs to be emotional for the rest of the Gators as well. Their leader deserves as much.
