Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes — The Next Walt Clyde Frazier

The University of Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes is an outstanding basketball player (on an outstanding team). But Hayes doesn’t leave his enthusiasm on the court–he carries it everywhere. Fascinated by the stenographers at the NCAA Tournament press events, the eloquent and irrepressible Hayes started dropping some esoteric vocab into his chatter. Syzgy? Cattywampus? Hayes let those two fly like they were “effort” or “defense,” words that hoops stenographers hear a little more often.

Just a sophomore, Hayes is like a college-age Walt “Clyde” Frazier, the NBA Hall of Famer who turned his tremendous vocabulary into a second career as a singular broadcaster. Clyde uses turns of phrase that manage to enliven even current Knicks games! After Hayes mentioned at his last presser that one of stenographers was “beautiful,” he took to Twitter to apologize for “accidentally verbalizing her pulchritude.” The contrite, sesquipedalian, expeditious Hayes was forgiven, of course. Hayes puts the wit in Twitter the way he and his teammates put the win in Wisconsin. Go Badgers.

Apologies to @debrabollman for “accidentally” verbalizing her pulchritude. I meant no disrespect ma’am. #contrite

— Nigel Hayes (@NIGEL_HAYES) March 27, 2015

Hayes, you might have guessed, is comfortable in front of the camera.