Jonas Hayes returns to alma mater as Assistant Coach

ATHENS, Ga. — Jonas Hayes, who sports more than a decade of previous experience as an extremely successful player and coach with the Georgia Bulldogs, has joined the Bulldogs’ staff as an assistant coach, head coach Mike White announced on Wednesday.

“I have respected Coach Hayes for a long time and am extremely excited to have him join our staff,” White said. “We’ve never worked together, but he’s someone who immediately makes you feel comfortable. It quickly becomes apparent what the University of Georgia means to him. His love for the state of Georgia, UGA, the Athens community and Georgia Basketball is palpable. I know how excited he is to be back at Stegeman, and I’m confident he will make an immediate and sustained impact as our program continues to grow.”

Hayes has spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at Georgia State and the four seasons prior to that on the staff at Xavier, including a stint as interim head coach when he led the Musketeers to the 2022 NIT title.

“I’ve respected and admired Coach White for quite sometime,” Hayes said. “I have so much respect for him as a man, and the success he’s had as a coach speaks for its self. Georgia is home. This place helped shape me as a man, as a player, and as a coach. Having the opportunity to return means everything to me. I’m incredibly grateful to Coach White for trusting me to be part of what he’s building at my alma mater. And I speak fluent Bulldawg!!”

An Atlanta native, Hayes played an integral role in many of Georgia Basketball’s greatest success during the 2000s. In the Bulldogs’ 11 combined seasons with Hayes as a player or member of the staff, Georgia earned seven postseason bids and declined an additional postseason opportunity.

Hayes was a three-year letterwinner and started 41 of 88 games played for the Bulldogs from 2001-04, averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds during his career. He was a member of teams that earned bids to the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments and the 2004 NIT. As a coach, he helped Georgia earn bids to the 2015 NCAA Tournament and the 2014, 2016 and 2017 NITs.

Hayes was on the Xavier staff for NIT appearances in 2019 and 2022. He was an assistant coach for three seasons before being promoted to associate head coach in 2021. He was tabbed interim head coach in March 2002 and went on to lead the Musketeers to victories over Florida, Vanderbilt, St. Bonaventure and Texas A&M en route to capturing the 2022 NIT Championship.

Prior to joining the Bulldogs’ staff, Hayes spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Belmont Abbey from 2007-12. He also was an assistant coach at South Carolina State and Morehouse. He originally returned to Georgia as operations coordinator for the 2012-13 season and moved into a slot as an assistant coach a year later.

Immediately after Hayes’ became an assistant coach, the Bulldogs posted three consecutive 20-win finishes, just the second time Georgia accomplished that feat. The Bulldogs also posted their winningest four-year SEC total (42 victories from 2014-17) during Hayes’ tenure. Hayes played a major role in the development and production of Georgia’s post players, including Marcus Thornton, a 2015 All-SEC performer, and Yante Maten, a two-time All-SEC honoree and the 2018 AP SEC Player of the Year.

A decade prior to his stint on the Georgia staff, Hayes was a prominent player on three successful Bulldog teams between 2001-04. Hayes scored 759 points, including a career-best 25 in a double OT win over No. 3 Georgia Tech as a senior, and pulled down 435 rebounds for Georgia. Hayes and his twin brother, Jarvis, played at Western Carolina as freshmen before transferring to Georgia in 2000. Jonas averaged 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while connecting on 63.0 percent of his shots from the floor in his one season with the Catamounts. Per NCAA rules, the Hayes twins practiced but did not play for the Bulldogs during the 2000-01 season when Georgia earned a bid to “March Madness.”

When he returned to action, Jonas helped Georgia reach postseason competition twice, with invitations to the 2002 NCAA Tournament and 2004 NIT. He averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds as a sophomore and contributed 6.7 points and 4.4 boards as a junior. Jonas then started 29 of 30 games played as a senior and averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds.

The Hayes twins starred at Atlanta’s Douglass High, where they led the Astros to the semifinals of the 1999 Class 4A State Tournament as seniors. Jonas averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds that season, while Jarvis averaged 28 points and 11 rebounds.