Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes Forgets Microphone Is Still On At Press Conference — What He Says Is Truly Endearing

On Wednesday, NCAA basketball star Nigel Hayes, 20, took center stage, but not on the court.

Hayes, a sophomore forward for the Wisconsin Badgers, participated in a press conference at the Staples Center with two of his teammates, Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky. After speaking and not realizing that his microphone was still on Hayes, who is six-foot-seven, whispered to his teammate “God she’s beautiful,” referring to a female reporter he had spotted in the room.

As the crowd began to laugh, Hayes quickly understood that what he shared privately had just been heard by the entire room, reports the Daily Mail.

“Did you hear that?” he quipped as he put his face in his hands.

“Alright we’ll open it up to questions!” the announcer then said, laughing with the crowd.

Many are now questioning exactly who the woman is that Hayes was referring to. The top vote so far seems to go to a brunette stenographer for ASAP Sports.

The moment has only increased Hayes ever-growing fan base. Commenters have referred to Hayes press conference slip up as “cute” and “endearing,” reports Yahoo! Sports.

Hayes, who is from Toledo, Ohio, has also tested stenographers with words such as “cattywampus,” “antidisestablishmentarianism,” and “soliloquy.” Before his Wednesday press conference, he threw the word “syzygy” in for good measure.

“Well, the wonderful lady over there, I think her job is a stenographer, yes, okay. And she does an amazing job typing words, sometimes if words are not in her dictionary maybe if I say soliloquy, right now she may have to work a little harder to type that word or quandary, zephyr, xylophone, things like that, that make her job really interesting,” Hayes said.

Hayes has played a major role in the Badgers success this season. He has averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, and has displayed impressive athleticism and strength.

The experts say that it will be interesting to watch the Badgers take on the Tar Heels. Many have brought up the lack of strength of their schedule, but despite the critics, the Badgers are confident and have proven that they are one of the country’s best.

Hayes and the Badgers take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night. The Badger’s player of the year may be Frank Kaminsky, but the Badger’s heart and soul is very clearly Nigel Hayes, both on and off the court.