ATLANTA — Georgia State has hired Atlanta native Jonas Hayes, one of the hottest young coaches in the country, as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced Wednesday.
Hayes, 40, burst onto the national scene when he was named interim coach at Xavier in March after Travis Steele was fired and led the Musketeers to the NIT championship. He had spent four seasons there as an assistant coach.
“Jonas is an experienced leader who will build a staff that embraces our expectations of competitive success, develops men of character and engages our community positively and with energy,” said Charlie Cobb, Georgia State’s athletic director.
Hayes becomes the 16th head coach in the program’s history and follows Rob Lanier, who went 53-30 in three seasons and took the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament this season. Lanier left Georgia State to become head coach at SMU.
Hayes’ twin Jarvis, who has been an assistant at Georgia State since 2019, will stay and become a part of his brother’s coaching staff.
Jonas Hayes has deep roots in the Atlanta community and has earned a reputation for being an excellent recruiter. He is expected to help Georgia State increase its presence in Atlanta’s basketball community, where he remains well-connected on the AAU scene.
When promoted to associate head coach last April, Steele said, “Jonas has been instrumental in our recruiting efforts and development of our frontcourt players. He brings an incredible amount of energy to our program every day.”
The Hayes brothers played at Douglass High School under legendary coach Jesse Bonner. Both played at the University of Georgia and helped the Bulldogs qualify for the 2002 NCAA Tournament and 2004 NIT. Jonas Hayes was a three-time letter winner and averaged 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 88 games, 41 starts.
Hayes spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Belmont Abbey from 2007-12. He was on the staff at Morehouse and South Carolina State before moving to Georgia as operations coordinator in 2012-13 and becoming an assistant the next year. He was at Georgia for six seasons.
Hayes inherits a roster that includes 6-foot-11 senior Jalen Thomas and 6-8 power forward Ja’Heim Hudson. Georgia State will move into its new 7,500-seat Convocation Center in the fall.
