UT’s Hayes decides to enter NBA draft
AUSTIN — Jaxson Hayes is the latest one-and-done big man at Texas.
The school said Thursday the freshman forward will hire an agent and enter the NBA draft.
Hayes is the third consecutive UT big man to leave for the NBA after his freshman season after Jarrett Allen and Mo Bamba.
Hayes, who set a Longhorns single-season record by shooting 73 percent from the field. averaged 10 points, five rebounds and more than two blocks per game and was named the Big 12 freshman of the year.
In other college basketball news:
• Nevada hired former UCLA coach Steve Alford four days after Eric Musselman left for Arkansas. Alford returns to the Mountain West Conference, where he spent six seasons at New Mexico and led the Lobos to the NCAA Tournament three times. Alford went 155-52 at New Mexico.
• Arizona State and coach Bobby Hurley are working on a contract extension. Hurley made the announcement on Twitter. Hurley had been rumored to top St. John's wish list after coach Chris Mullin stepped down.
• LSU freshman guard JaVonte Smart said he plans to leave the Tigers and the NBA draft. Smart was the player mentioned by now-suspended coach Will Wade in published transcripts of a leaked FBI wiretap in which Wade discussed an “offer” to a person affiliated with the player. LSU barred Wade from coaching in both the SEC and NCAA tournaments after declining initially to meet with university administrators about whether he broke any NCAA recruiting rules. The coach is scheduled to meet with the school Friday. Smart, who was cleared to play in the postseason, averaged 11.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals this season.
• Cam Reddish is the latest Duke freshman to leave school for the NBA draft. Reddish announced his decision one day after teammate RJ Barrett said he was entering the draft. Reddish averaged 13.5 points and hit 33 percent of his 3-pointers.
• Stanford sophomore forward KZ Okpala declared for the NBA draft. The 6-9 Okpala led the Cardinal in scoring at 16.8 points per game.