Former Terrapins starting point guard Eric Hayes will be making a return to the same arena he called home during his Maryland career. This time, however, he will be in a suit on the Terrapins bench.
It has been announced that Eric Hayes will be joining head coach Mark Turgeon’s staff this season as a graduate assistant effective today. Hayes was a four-year letterman for the Maryland basketball team before graduating from the College Park campus in 2010.
After graduation Hayes embarked on a journey overseas to continue his playing career. Hayes had a 23 game stint with Leche Rio Breogan Lugo of the Spain-LEB Gold league in 2010-2011 where he averaged 8.9 PPG 1.9 RPG and 2.0 APG. In February of 2011 Hayes moved to the Lithuanian club team Neptunas Klaipeda. He only played in one game for them before leaving. The final stop for Hayes in his professional career was in the NBA Developmental League where he played in six games for the Canton Charge before ultimately being waived.
Hayes is a coaches kid, his father Kendall Hayes is one of the more well-respected HS coaches in the region at Potomac (VA) HS in Dumfries, VA, which should help him get adjusted to his new role with the Terrapins basketball program. Hayes will be the only former Terrapin on Turgeon’s staff.
Hayes played in 133 games for Maryland over the course of his four year career. During that time he compiled averages of 9.0 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field. He also chipped in 2.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.0 steals per game while averaging 29.1 minutes played during his time in College Park.