As Georgia honors its three seniors Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Bulldog assistant Jonas Hayes will watch the ceremony with a special sense of pride.

Hayes was the main recruiter for both senior Pape Diatta and Yante Maten, and in the case of the Bulldogs’ second all-time leading scorer, played a key role in his development on the court.

“Jonas has done a really good job as his position coach,” head coach Mark Fox said. “They’ve had a great relationship and you know, maybe some similarities in their game, but they’ve had a very good relationship. Jonas has pushed him hard and he’s done a good job with him.”

According to Diatta, the job Hayes does goes well beyond what you see on the court.

“He’s just a great person, a great person to have on your side,” said Diatta, one of the three Bulldog seniors being recognized, along with Yante Maten and Juwan Parker. “You can always walk to his office and get some advice.”

It’s that easy-going persona that’s helped make arguably the top recruiter on the Bulldog staff.

Since joining Fox’s program in 2012 after a six-year stint as an assistant at Belmont Abbey, Hayes not only played key roles in the recruitment Maten and Diatta, but Turtle Jackson, E’Torrion Wilridge and Mike Edwards in 2015, Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris, Rayshaun Hammonds, Nicolas Claxton and Isaac Kante in 2017 along with Amanze Ngumezi and Jojo Toppin, who will join the program next year.

Ashton Hagans was also committed to Georgia thanks largely to Hayes before backing out a few days ago.

“Anybody who has ever spent time with Jonas Hayes knows how easy he is to talk to. He has a very engaging personality and is very genuine. He connects well with people from all different backgrounds because of that,” Rivals basketball analyst Dan McDonald said. “At Georgia, being a former player who had a lot of success and being from Atlanta, it only makes it that much easier for him to recruit well in the state because people know what kind of person he is. They trust him to look out for their kids off the court and develop them on the court.”

Diatta can certainly attest to that.

It’s one thing to go to Atlanta, or even to Michigan to see the parents of a recruit.

But Senagal?

Yep. Hayes made the cross-country trip to meet Diatta’ parents, an effort that made quite the impression.

“Oh yeah, that made a big one,” Diatta said. “That really made my mom happy.”