Former Gators center Kevarrius Hayes made a huge step in his professional basketball career this week signing with club ASVEL in Villeurbanne, France, a suburb of Lyon.
In his first season after graduating from Florida Hayes signed with Red October Cantu in the Italian Lega Serie A. This is a solid professional league and was an excellent first contract for Hayes to get out of college and he took the opportunity and ran with it.
Earning a 29-minute per game starting role right out of the gate he dominated defensively and found ways to contribute on offense leading to averages of 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game. Watching Hayes at Florida you knew he was a monster on the defensive end and that was something that translated perfectly to the European style of play. Hayes was an outstanding rim protector who could also move his feet well enough to keep up with the motion-centric offenses of Europe and that helped him have an incredible rookie season.
Following that success he was offered the contract with ASVEL. ASVEL plays in the French LNB Pro A league, one of the best leagues outside of the NBA in the world. However, a great 2019-20 season qualified them for the 2020 EuroLeague which IS the best league outside the NBA, and the fact they got Hayes to bolster their roster for a big season in the EuroLeague speaks to how highly they think of his game.
ASVEL is owned by former NBA star Tony Parker who also handles the duty of President and he has done a great job of bringing the best talent possible to his team. Here are some notable players Hayes will be playing with.
You may remember Jordan Taylor from Wisconsin, a player who was a second team All-American in 2012.
Theo Maledon is a player you may not have heard of but you soon will. He’s a projected first round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft so Hayes may not actually end up playing with him, but there is a chance whoever drafts him will want him to spend one more year in Europe to season.
Livio Jean-Charles was a first round pick of the San Antonio Spurs and a fixture on the French national team.
Guerschon Yabusele was the 16th overall pick of the Boston Celtics in 2017 and played two seasons with them before heading back to France.
All-Big Ten center Adreian Payne was another high NBA draft pick (15th overall) who had over 100 games of NBA experience and Hayes will be competing with him for minutes.
With that quality of names you can see why it’s such an accomplishment that Hayes signed there only one year out of college. It’s a great club about to play in the second best league in the world and for that reason Hayes is also about to have a great payday. While the terms of Hayes’ contract aren’t known there is great money to be made for players that play for EuroLeague squads with many players making six figures—and even some making seven.
Kevarrius Hayes is a player that often caught criticism during his time at Florida, and perhaps his full impact wasn’t shown until he was gone. Florida’s defense dropped off in a major way when Hayes graduated and while his excellent work on that side of the floor was recognized while he was on campus the extent of the work he was doing probably wasn’t fully recognized until he was gone.
His career in Europe couldn’t be off to a better start and it deserves acknowledgement. Players who don’t get NBA looks dream of making it to one of the EuroLeague and Hayes is there already. Hayes was a great Gator and it’s fantastic to see him having success overseas.