Horns’ Hayes honing his craft

AUSTIN — By leaps and bounds Jaxson Hayes is emerging as a crucial part of the Texas men’s basketball team.

Those leaps are leading to tons of blocks for Hayes, the league-leader in the Big 12 Conference swats so far this season and among the nation’s elite.

As the freshman continues evolving, it’s that leaping ability that has put him in position to learn to hone his game even more. Especially as opposing teams try to bait him out of position for a block only to open up space for an inside pass and score or an offensive rebound.

“In high school you can tell what someone’s about to do — if they’re just gonna lay it up or dunk it,” Hays said. “But in college you never know if they’re gonna bring it up, (or) go down. It’s a lot harder to read what they’re gonna do (in college).”

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Through work in the film room and on the practice court, along with the in-the-moment lessons he’s been learning through Big 12 play, Hayes is determined to learn the intricacies of being an all-around outstanding big man.

“Him defending in a stance more consistently will make a huge difference,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “He’s had some phenomenal (blocks). But I showed him some possessions against Texas Tech where he went for blocks he wasn’t gonna get ,and he took himself out of position. That’s all experience and that’s stuff that he’s literally gaining day-by-day.”

Hayes has 51 total blocks so far through 19 games for Texas (11-8, 3-4 in Big 12), including a career-high five blocks in each of the past two games against Oklahoma and TCU.

Standing with the best in the nation, his 51 blocks ranks him in at 10th in the NCAA in swats at 2.68 per game. That same metric leads the entire Big 12 Conference, and he has 24 blocks in league play through seven games.

“I feel like that’s something I always have (been good at), even in middle school I was a pretty good shot blocker because I was more athletic than everyone else,” Hayes said.

The 6’11″ Longhorn admits he wants to improve his rebounding, as Texas has struggled to keep teams off the offensive and defensive glass in games throughout the season.

“Something I need to work on is rebounding the ball more, something I need to learn how to do better because I’m not doing it at the rate I need to be doing right now,” Hayes said.

The positives have been big for the big man, who helped Texas defeat then-20th ranked Oklahoma by going 7-of-8 from the line as he put up 15 crucial points to go with his five blocks and six rebounds.

“He’s taken on an added role for our team relative to where he was at the beginning of the year,” Smart said. “It’s one of those things where — to whom much is given much is expected. He wants that, and we need that from him.”

At 5.2 boards per game so far, Hayes determination is clear as he admits the learning curve in college has been drastic, yet his progress from the beginning of the season is evident both on and off the court. Senior teammate Dylan Osetkowski is second in the Big 12 at 8.3 rebounds per game thus far, while Hayes is 21st in the league while Texas guard Kerwin Roach II is right behind him at 4.9 rebounds per game.

Texas as a whole is seventh out of 10 teams in the Big 12 in rebounding.

“Lately I’ve been focused on going and getting my man and I just need to focus on going and grabbing the ball because not a lot people are going to be able to jump with me with my reach, and athletic ability,” Hayes said, “and I just need to realize that.”

If the Longhorns are able to turn a corner toward more consistent play, a lot of that will start down low with Hayes and even Osetkowski. When Texas has been able to work the ball inside, it’s freed up space on the perimeter for the playmakers, such as Roach, sophomore Dylan Febres and fellow freshman Courtney Ramey, to make plays and keep pace with high-powered offenses in the Big 12.

“As you know he’s just starting to scratch the surface,” said Smart of Hayes. “He’s done so many good things but the exciting thing for him, and for our team, is he’s got so much improvement he can make.”

As teams take advantage of Hayes in the first go-round of league play — he’s unfortunately fouled out against Kansas and TCU — the freshman also believes they are helping him learn at an advanced pace that will be of benefit to him and the Longhorns the second time through the Big 12 Conference.

At 75.5 percent, Hayes leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage and has hit double figures scoring in 11 games total this season.

“I feel like my progression has been going up since November and just needs to keep going up,” Hayes said. “We know everything we need to know about winning, but other stuff in our game — there’s still stuff we can pick up.”

Texas plays a nonconference game in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Georgia Saturday at 1 p.m. with the game being broadcast on ESPN2.

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