Madison Hayes And Her Wolfpack Journey
With players like Saniya Rivers, Aziaha James, and Zoe Brooks, when NC State gets the basketball into the frontcourt, in many ways, she is considered an afterthought. When the opposition has the ball, she is often looked at as a point of weakness to be exploited.
But when the dust is settled, Madison Hayes usually emerges victorious.
Finding Her Sport
Basketball was not Hayes’ first love athletically. While in middle school, she played softball, and as a catcher, she developed many of the leadership skills and qualities that she draws on at NC State.
Hayes still umpires games back home in Chattanooga and enjoys her time on the diamond, but when she was entering high school, she was still looking for her niche. Then basketball overtook softball.
“I was going back and forth between those two sports,” Hayes said. “I decided since I was getting taller and I played catcher, my knees were just not right during softball, and I love the pace of the game for basketball, so after a bit I just played basketball.”
During high school, her competitive fire kicked in. As she progressed, Hayes started getting noticed by others. The first contact she received came from someone who would eventually become a familiar face in her life.
“Coach Nikki [West] was the first to offer me,” Hayes said. “I was like, wow. You always hear about it, all these other kids getting offers. It becomes an anxiety type of feeling. Am I going to get mine? I feel like with my parents and the advice that they have given me, the opportunity will come. When it comes, my work will show, and that is what happened. I feel like it was exciting altogether, but then that is when everything else rolled in with other offers as well.”
Picking A Spot
With the help of her parents Adrian and Greta, both of whom also played basketball at the college level, Hayes displayed a remarkable diligence when it came time to decide where she wanted to attend college.
“She has always been a gym rat ever since we got her with trainers,” Greta Hayes recalled. “She would work out at school, so she put a lot of thought into it. We actually created a spreadsheet and listed things that were important to her.
“How far away she wanted to go from home. Was it a specific conference? Was there anything specific that she wanted in a coach? Did it have to be a male or a female? Did it matter? Did it have to be Power Five? She was just opening everything when it first started. [The spreadsheet] gave her a reference point.”
Hayes narrowed her choices down to three. NC State, Mississippi State, and Louisville made the final cut.
“It's hard when there are just so many people trying to talk to you and people trying to tell their pros and cons and all this other stuff,” Hayes said. “They're going to always tell you the good things about the school. I think having that Excel sheet was easier. It helped me to avoid so much stress, even though I already had some.”
She elected to attend Mississippi State and earned Freshman All-SEC honors. However, the head coach who recruited her, Vic Schaefer, left the Bulldogs to coach at Texas before her freshman season. Hayes decided to honor her commitment initially but then chose to enter the transfer portal after one season in Starkville.
With memories of her spreadsheet still fresh, along with her personal experience in the recruiting process during high school, Hayes knew exactly where she wanted to be the second time around.
“After the season, Madison had conversations (with the head coach and the athletic director at Mississippi State),” Greta Hayes said. “I was just so proud of her. I do not know that I could have done that.”
“I knew where I wanted to go,” Hayes said. “After I decided to go in the transfer portal, I already knew where I wanted to go. Coach Moore allowed me to come here. Obviously, he told me that Elissa Cunane and all of them were coming back that year that I was coming in. I said I had no issue doing that. It was exciting to come and be with people that I already knew beforehand.”
The Journey With The Pack
As a sophomore, Hayes was a part of the 2021-22 NC State squad that swept through the ACC regular season and tournament en route to an appearance in the Elite Eight. It was the Wolfpack’s first appearance in a regional final since 1998.
Buoyed by that success and with several starters returning, NC State was poised to continue its dominance of the ACC while also pursuing a first-ever national crown for the program, but the Wolfpack crashed to a 20-12 campaign, including a 9-9 mark in ACC play.
The season ended with a last-second loss to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It is the only time in the last seven tournaments held that NCSU has not at least reached the regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen).
The standard was not met.
“We knew we were a better team than we were supposed to be,” Hayes said. We had a lot of talent. After that season, Mimi Collins. River Baldwin, me, Saniya Rivers, Zaza (James), having that understanding and that goal as a team, especially as veterans on the team at that point,
“Just having the goal, the same goals as a team.. It's not always about like individual stuff, and I think that's what hurt us that team that year. (James) and I were a part of the bigger group (2021-22) with (Kayla Jones), Elissa (Cunane), and Kai (Crutchfield). They showed togetherness, and that's how they went into games. Even though like they had different people that were scoring every night.”
Instead of pouting or leaving for greener pastures, the core group of returnees decided mediocrity would not stand. NC State set a tone early in 2023-24.
“We were not ranked at the time, so I think like us playing UConn (in the second game of the season) was not only our statement, but it just shows who we are as a team, and to ourselves,” Hayes said. “We can actually do this. It is not for everybody else to say and give their opinions about us. We know who we are.”
Despite coming up short of ACC titles in the regular season and conference tournament, the Wolfpack raised the standard under the leadership of head coach Wes Moore with a Final Four appearance.
“(After the regular season) we knew we were hosting,” Hayes said. “Being able to host is just amazing. Being at home and being able to win those games because we usually win most of our games at home. Being able to do that, to beat Tennessee, because Tennessee's a great team. Then going through Stanford and Texas, Stanford's a great team in their own right. They had a great coach, Tara VanDerveer.
“It was nerve-wracking because we were excited. It was not ever like, I do not think we could do this.’ I think it's just having that same confidence when we played UConn or Colorado when we were in the Virgin Islands because they were in the top three at the time. Just being able to have that confidence and still play together and, like Zaza, had a great run. That helped us as well. Everybody was playing their part in the games. That really helped us as a team.”
Becoming the Glue
NC State has scorers. NC State has players who can drive to the basket. NC State has folks who can hit midrange and three-pointers.
When you are one of many in a certain aspect, it can be hard to create separation. Hayes has done that through her rebounding, defensive tenacity, and fiery emotion.
There is some contrast between the player Hayes was when she first got to NC State as opposed to now, but she feels that the versatility was always there.
“I have had that skillset like when I was in high school,” Hayes said. “Obviously, college is different, and having that confidence when I came here, that's what I was looking for, and then being able to build on that skill because you can always build on skills that you have, even if you're great at it – you are trying to perfect it.”
Those qualities and the variety of strengths that Hayes brings to the court may still be a shock to some pundits and casual observers, but her head coach saw it a mile away.
“Madison has been unbelievable,” NC State head coach Wes Moore said. “She has been a force on the boards. You can talk about skills all you want. A lot of it is the heart to get in there and mix it up. She is fearless.
“That is one of the things I remember when we were trying to recruit her in travel ball. She was fearless getting to the boards. You better not get in her way.”
Finish The Quest
NC State is worthy of being a Final Four participant. The Wolfpack is worthy of being a champion. That guarantees nothing. Other teams are worthy, too.
“We can be great,” Hayes said. "Shots are not going to fall sometimes, but we just have to rely on our defense and rebounding.”
After the season, Hayes plans to ply her trade in professional basketball for as long as there are spots available. While she is willing to play overseas, her dream is to one day take the court in the WNBA.
After basketball, she aspires to work in television as a basketball announcer or pundit. If her past is an indicator, a life of great success lies ahead.
The Wolfpack portion of her journey will end in a sense at some point between one and four games after NC State’s spectacular home finale against Michigan State last weekend.
In truth, that just pertains to her playing career at NCSU. Hayes has a connection to NC State that is perpetual. They are indelibly linked. She is a life-long Wolfpacker.
“I would say as a player first, just a hard worker, hardnosed, willing to sacrifice for the team,” Hayes said when asked how she wants to be remembered. “Those types of things and being able to hit make plays in big games. I feel like that's what I do on a regular basis. I feel like I hit a big shot down a stretch.
“As a person, just compassionate, very empathetic. I will build relationships with each fan that I meet when I come here. When I come out in the lobby and see a different person that has got my jersey on, I talk to them, say hey to them, and build a relationship with them. because you never know what could happen down the line and if they need something or whatever the case may be.”