Nigel Hayes learned a valuable lesson this week about sitting too close to a hot mic during a news conference in which the Wisconsin basketball star exalted the beauty of the stenographer for all to hear.
Hayes, a sophomore and one of the top players for the No. 3-ranked Badgers, thought he was whispering, "God, she's beautiful" to teammates Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker at Wednesday's presser, but the mic picked up his comment and broadcast it to the entire room. He was reportedly talking about ASAP Sports stenographer
Debra Bollman, 43, according to Blade News Services.
When some people in the room began to laugh, Hayes looked stunned and asked, "Did you all hear that?"
The 20-year-old covered then his face in embarrassment while Kaminsky and Dekker laughed.
A video of the flub has already been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube.
Prior to the hot mic slip-up, Hayes had been toying with the stenographers, purposely using unusual words like "cattywampus" and "antidisestablishmentarianism" in an effort to
stump them, according to USA Today's Big Lead sports blog.
Many on social media thought Hayes' reaction at the news conference was refreshing.
Wisconsin defeated North Carolina 79-72 Thursday night to advance to the NCAA regional finals against Arizona and a shot and the Final Four.
The same day, Hayes celebrated the fact that he was dressing in the same locker as one of his basketball heroes, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.