Oliver Harry Hayes-Brown (born 28 April 2000) is an Australian sportsman who currently plays Australian rules football with the Richmond Football Club. He previously played basketball, playing one season of college basketball for the UC Riverside Highlanders before spending two seasons as a development player with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). In 2023, he changed codes and joined the Richmond Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) as a category B rookie.

Oliver Hayes-Brown
Hayes-Brown playing in the VFL in 2024
Personal information
Full name Oliver Harry Hayes-Brown
Nickname(s) Ollie
Date of birth (2000-04-28) 28 April 2000 (age 24)[1]
Draft 2024 AFL rookie draft
Height 208 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Weight 114 kg (251 lb)
Position(s) Ruck
Club information
Current club Richmond
Number 47
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2024– Richmond 0 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 11, 2024 season.

Early life

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Hayes-Brown grew up in Melbourne, Victoria, where he attended Peninsula Grammar.[2] He played basketball for the Dandenong Rangers as a junior and was a member of an Australian U19 national team.[2]

Basketball career

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Career information
High schoolPeninsula Grammar
(Melbourne, Victoria)
CollegeUC Riverside (2020–2021)
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2017–2023
PositionCenter
Career history
2017Frankston Blues
2018–2019; 2021Dandenong Rangers
2021–2023Perth Wildcats
2022Willetton Tigers
2023Keilor Thunder

Early years

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Hayes-Brown debuted for the Frankston Blues of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2017. He continued on in the SEABL in 2018 with the Dandenong Rangers, and then played for the Rangers in 2019 in the inaugural NBL1 season.[3]

College

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After redshirting the 2019–20 season, Hayes-Brown made his college basketball debut for the UC Riverside Highlanders in the 2020–21 season. In 20 games, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.[2]

NBL1 and Perth Wildcats

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After returning to Australia, Hayes-Brown played for the Dandenong Rangers in the 2021 NBL1 South season,[4] where he averaged 19.6 points and 13.3 rebounds in 12 games.[3]

In October 2021, Hayes-Brown signed with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player for two seasons.[5] In the 2021–22 NBL season, he totalled eight points and twelve rebounds in eight games.[3]

For the 2022 NBL1 West season, Hayes-Brown joined the Willetton Tigers.[6] In seven games, he averaged 23.0 points, 15.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.[7]

Hayes-Brown re-joined the Wildcats for the 2022–23 NBL season as a development player.[8] He totalled eight points and seven rebounds in five games.[3]

Hayes-Brown joined the Keilor Thunder for the 2023 NBL1 South season.[9] In 22 games, he averaged 14.59 points, 8.23 rebounds and 1.09 assists per game.[10]

Football career

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On 6 September 2023, Hayes-Brown signed with the Richmond Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) as a category B rookie.[11][12][13]

He made his first appearance for Richmond in a practice match against Box Hill on 9 March 2024, wearing the number 39 and kicking one goal.[14][15]

Richmond allowed him to develop his ruck craft at the local level instead of the Victorian Football League (VFL), initially playing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) for Old Ivanhoe in the Premier B division.[16] In June 2024, he was recalled from the VAFA and debuted for Richmond's VFL side against Port Melbourne.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Oliver Harry HAYES-BROWN". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Oliver Hayes-Brown". gohighlanders.com. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Oliver Hayes-Brown". australiabasket.com. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Hayes-Brown and Eales Riding With Us For 2021 NBL1 Season". dandenongbasketball.com.au. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Wildcats add size and youth in Oliver Hayes-Brown". wildcats.com.au. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Oliver Hayes-Brown Announcement". willettonbasketball.com.au. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Oliver Hayes-Brown – 2022 Stats". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  8. ^ Pitman, Kane (18 May 2022). "NBL Free Agency: Every team's roster and their No.1 priority analysed". espn.com. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ^ "BEST MULLET IN THE WEST COMING SOUTH!". facebook.com/keilorbasketball. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Oliver Hayes-Brown – 2023 Stats". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  11. ^ Sutton, Ben (31 August 2023). "Richmond sign 208cm, 114kg basketballer Oliver Hayes-Brown as a Category B rookie". 7news.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023.
  12. ^ O'Donoghue, Craig (31 August 2023). "Ollie Hayes-Brown: 208cm giant switches codes from Perth Wildcats basketballer to Richmond AFL-listed player". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Oliver Hayes-Brown joins Richmond". richmondfc.com.au. 6 September 2023. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023.
  14. ^ El-Houli, Zakariya (7 March 2024). "Squad for third VFL practice match confirmed". Richmond Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024. Oliver Hayes-Brown 39
  15. ^ "First goal in the Yellow and Black for Oliver Hayes-Brown 🥳🙌". Twitter. Richmond VFL. 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  16. ^ Keating, Mitch (6 May 2024). "The two AFL-listed ruckmen currently playing local footy". zerohanger.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Hayes-Brown to feature for Richmond VFL". richmondfc.com.au. 6 June 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024.
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