Vitals: 6-6, 230, P
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
High School: Brighton
Looking back at 2017: Hayes found his way into the Illinois record books in his first-ever season of football, with his 42 yards-per-punt average coming in as the ninth-best in a single season in program history. Hayes finished the season with more than 10 punts going for 50-plus yards and 22 punts pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection and also earned BTN.com All-Freshman Team honors after ranking third in the conference in punting average and third in net punting.