Butch Hays facts for kids

William "Butch" Hays (born September 16, 1962) is an American-Australian former professional basketball player. He spent most of his career playing in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) from 1991 to 2003. He was known for his skills as a point guard.

Early Life and Basketball Start

Butch Hays was born in Playa del Rey, California. He grew up in South Los Angeles. When he was 12 years old, a neighbor introduced him to basketball. Before that, he played other sports like athletics, American football, and baseball. He started getting coaching for basketball when he was in high school.

School and College Basketball

Hays was a talented player at St. Bernard High School. He earned "All-American" honors, which means he was recognized as one of the best high school players in the country. This helped him get a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.

He played for four years with the Golden Bears college team. When he graduated, he held the record for the most assists in the team's history. An assist is when a player passes the ball to a teammate who then scores. Later, other great players like Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd broke his record.

Butch Hays' Professional Career

NBA Draft and Early Career

After college, Butch Hays was ready for the professional leagues. He was a point guard and stood about 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall. In the 1984 NBA draft, he was picked by the Chicago Bulls. This was a very famous draft year because the Bulls also picked Michael Jordan from North Carolina. Hays and Jordan even lived together for a short time before Hays was released from his contract with the Bulls.

After leaving the Bulls, Hays played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). In 1988, he joined a new team called the San Jose Jammers.

Playing in Australia's NBL

After two years with the Jammers, Hays moved to Australia. He signed a two-year contract with the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League (NBL). He joined the team in 1991 as a replacement for their long-time point guard, Al Green.

Hays made a big impact right away. In 1990, the 36ers had missed the playoffs for the first time in years. With Hays, they returned to the playoffs in 1991. He averaged 24.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 9 assists per game. In his very first NBL game for the 36ers, he scored 36 points. This is still a club record for points scored in a debut game! He also had 8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 6 steals in that game. This made him an instant favorite with the fans. He also set a club record for assists in a single game with 17.

In 1992, the 36ers moved to a bigger arena. Hays's stats were still good, but the team missed the playoffs. After that season, the 36ers signed another point guard, and Hays decided to move on.

He then joined the Illawarra Hawks for two years. He helped the Hawks reach the quarter-finals in both 1993 and 1994.

Next, he signed with his third NBL team, the Newcastle Falcons, in 1995. He played three seasons in Newcastle. He helped the Falcons make the playoffs in 1995.

In 1998, Hays played for the North Melbourne Giants. However, his time there was short, lasting only 8 games. Due to NBL rules at the time, he couldn't sign with another team that season. He returned to the Falcons for the 1998–99 NBL season before retiring from the NBL for the first time.

After this, he started playing for the Maitland Mustangs in the New South Wales-based Waratah League, a different basketball league.

Butch Hays made a brief return to the NBL in the 2002–03 NBL season. He played four games for the Canberra Cannons before retiring from the NBL for good at age 41. He then went back to playing for the Maitland Mustangs. He finally stopped playing basketball completely in 2012, at the age of 50.

Overall, Butch Hays played 232 NBL games. He averaged 18.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game during his NBL career.

NBL Career Statistics

Here are Butch Hays's career statistics from his time in the NBL: