Hayes, Elvin E.
Basketball
b. Nov. 17, 1945, Rayville, LA
The "Big E" was a prolific scorer who averaged 35 points a game during his high school career in Rayville, LA, before becoming one of the first two black players, with Don Chaney, to play for the University of Houston.
Not very tall for a center at 6-foot-9 1/2, Hayes was both bulky at 235 pounds and quick, and he could hit the short- to medium-range jump shot against opponents who stayed near the basket to try to defend against him close in.
At Houston, he was a consensus All-American in 1967 and 1968, but was listed as a forward because Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was the All-American center both years. Hayes scored 2,888 points during his college career, averaging 31.0 a game, and had 1,602 rebounds.
Hayes and Alcindor met in one of the most publicized games in college basketball history on Jan. 5, 1968, when Houston met UCLA at the Astrodome before 52,693 spectators, the largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in the United States. Hayes had 39 points and 15 rebounds in Houston's 71-69 victory, which ended UCLA's winning streak at 47 games. However, UCLA eliminated Houston, 101-69, in the semi-finals of the NCAA tournament.
As a rookie with the San Diego Rockets, Hayes led the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points a game in 1968-69. He went with the Rockets when they moved to Houston in 1971 and was traded to the Baltimore Bullets in 1972. In 1981, he returned to Houston and played for the Rockets until his retirement in 1984.
When the Bullets won the NBA championship in 1978, Hayes was named most valuable player of the championship series.
In his 16 NBA seasons, Hayes scored 27,313 points, third on the all-time career list, and averaged 21.0 per game. He had 16,279 rebounds, an average of 12.5 a game. He led the league in rebounds in 1969-70 and 1973-74.