Georgia State University Men's Basketball

Jonas Hayes, a rising star in the coaching ranks who led Xavier to the 2022 NIT Championship, was named the 16th head men's basketball coach in Georgia State history, announced by Georgia State University President M. Brian Blake and Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb on April 6, 2022. Hayes is in his fourth season with the Panthers.  Before taking the reins at GSU, Hayes spent the previous four seasons at Xavier, first as assistant coach and then as interim head coach. He was elevated to interim head coach on March 16, 2022 and led the Musketeers to four straight wins, defeating Florida, Vanderbilt and St. Bonaventure before a 73-72 victory over Texas A&M in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden.  He helped the Musketeers to four straight winning seasons and two postseason berths, highlighted by this year's 23-13 campaign.   During his tenure at Xavier, he earned a reputation as an elite recruiter and player development coach.   Hayes went to Xavier in 2018 after six seasons at Georgia, his alma mater, where he served one season (2012-13) as operations coordinator before moving to the coaching staff as an assistant for five seasons (2013-18).   Hayes helped the Bulldogs earn postseason berths in four of his last five seasons as an assistant coach. Georgia posted three consecutive 20-win records in his first three seasons as an assistant, only the second time in program history the Bulldogs accomplished that feat. Georgia also posted its best four-year SEC win total (42 victories from 2014-18) during Hayes' tenure.   Hayes began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Morehouse College in 2005-06. He spent one season at South Carolina State and then five seasons at Belmont Abbey (2007-12) before returning to Georgia in 2012.   As a player, Hayes was a three-year letterwinner and started 41 of 88 games played for the Bulldogs from 2001-04, averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for his career. Hayes and his twin brother Jarvis played at Western Carolina as freshmen before transferring to Georgia in 2000. Jonas helped Georgia reach postseason competition twice, including the 2002 NCAA Tournament and 2004 NIT. He started 29 games as a senior and averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds.   Hayes attended Atlanta's Douglass High School and graduated from Georgia in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in child and family development.   JONAS HAYES' HEAD COACHING RECORD  2021-22  Xavier (Interim) 4-0  2022-34  Georgia State 10-21  Total 14-21    

Allen Payne joins Jonas Hayes' first Georgia State staff as an assistant coach in spring 2022 after three seasons at Elon.   In 2019, while an assistant coach at Indiana University (Pa.), Payne was recognized on the Under Armour NABC 30 Coaches Under 30 list.   At Elon, he helped lead the Phoenix to the program's first appearance in the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association championship game in 2020-21, following a berth in the tournament semifinals for the first time in 2019-20.   During his time on the Elon staff, Payne's focus on defensive scouting and game-planning helped lead to significant defensive improvement as the Phoenix lowered their points allowed per game from 76.4 in the year before his arrival to 71.7 in 2019-20 and then to 65.0 points per game allowed in 2020-21. That year, Elon led the CAA and ranked in the top 50 nationally in scoring defense.   Payne also played a key role in helping Elon student-athletes earn five All-CAA awards the last two years.   Before going to Elon in 2019, Payne was an integral part of a very successful coaching staff at IUP for two seasons. He helped guide the program to back-to-back conference regular-season championships and the PSAC Tournament title in 2019. That earned the Crimson Hawks a berth in the 2019 NCAA D-II Tournament and a No. 2 overall final ranking with a 30-3 record, the third 30-win season in program history.   Payne's responsibilities at IUP included recruiting, opponent scouting, player development and administrative duties.   Payne began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Xavier for two seasons (2015-17). In both seasons, he assisted the staff in leading Xavier to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight as an 11th seed in 2017.   As a collegiate player, Payne was a three-year starter at Auburn who was selected as a team captain in his senior season. He went on to play one year of professional basketball in the United Kingdom for the Sheffield Sharks.   Payne is a 2014 Auburn graduate with a bachelor’s degree in public administration.   The Cincinnati, Ohio, native was an all-state prep player Payne at Winton Woods High School.   Payne is married to the former Tyrese Tanner, who was an All-SEC women’s basketball standout at Auburn. The couple has one daughter, Ava, and one son, AJ.  

TWITTER: @JarvisHayes24  |  INSTAGRAM: @JarvisHayes Jarvis Hayes, a former NBA standout and a highly-respected figure throughout the basketball community in the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia, serves as an assistant coach at Georgia State and his first under head coach Jonas Hayes. Hayes joined the Panthers' staff for the 2019-20 season.    Hayes' roots in this city and state run deep as the Atlanta native starred at Douglass High School and then the University of Georgia. Following his 12-year pro career that included seven seasons in the NBA, he served as the head coach of the Atlanta Celtics AAU team from 2015-18, one of the premier AAU programs in the country.   In his first three seasons at GSU, Hayes has been a key component for a GSU program that won the 2022 Sun Belt Conference title to earn the Panthers' sixth NCAA Tournament berth and fourth since 2015. He helped the Georgia State to winning seasons each year, including back-to-back appearances in the Sun Belt title game.   Another highlight of his tenure at Georgia State was the Panthers' 2020-21 opening night, quadruple-overtime victory at Georgia Tech for the first win over an ACC opponent in school history.   In his first season, he helped the Panthers to 19 wins in a 2019-20 season that included a seven-game winning streak and the championship of the 2K Empire Classic Riverside Regional.   Before coming to Georgia State, Hayes spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach at Atlanta's Morehouse College, helping guide the squad to a 20-5 overall record and the SIAC regular season title while assisting in the recruitment and development of the conference Player and Newcomer of the Year.   From 2015-18 he led the Atlanta Celtics AAU team while also serving as a color commentator for NBA TV and the ESPN/SEC Network. He also served as an assistant basketball coach at the Drew Charter School for two seasons.   Hayes was drafted with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He spent four seasons in Washington before playing the 2007-08 season for the Detroit Pistons, who advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. He spent his last two seasons in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets, where he served as an NBPA Team Representative.   From 2010-15, Hayes continued to play professionally overseas winning a championship with CSU Asesoft Ploiesti in Romania. He also played in Italy, Qatar, Israel, Russia, and Turkey.   After his freshman season at Western Carolina, where he averaged 17.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game to become the first freshman in 40 years to lead the Southern Conference in scoring, Hayes transferred to Georgia.   At Georgia, Hayes played two seasons before entering the NBA Draft. As a sophomore, he won the SEC scoring title wtih 18.6 points per game and was voted the SEC Player of the Year by Basketball America, The Sporting News, and CNN-SI.   During his junior year, he ranked second in the conference in scoring and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage. He became the only Bulldog to be a two-time, unanimous First-Team All-SEC selection by the coaches.   Hayes and his wife Illia were married in 2008. The couple has two sons, Jarvis Jr., and Myles.

Jason Quarles serves as assistant strength and conditioning coach at Georgia State, working with head coach Jonas Hayes' men's basketball program. Quarles joined the Georgia State staff in 2022 after one season as the men's basketball strength and conditioning coach at Austin Peay. Prior to that he worked with the men's basketball and tennis programs at IUPUI. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Quarles was a baseball standout at Southern University who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft. A year later he was rated the top relief pitching prospect in the Pirates organization by Baseball America. After his pro baseball career ended in 2007, Quarles returned to his hometown to work with student-athletes at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School. He later served in the Toronto Blue Jays organization as a minor league strength and conditioning coach while also working for Indianapolis-based Dugan's Sports Performance. Quarles' notable clientele included future Major League standouts Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman and Joe Musgrove, among others. Quarles completed his degree in exercise science at IUPUI in 2012. He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He is also a registered Strength and Conditioning Coach through the College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (SCCC).  

Kent Davison, who possesses a wealth of basketball experience at the professional, collegiate, high school and international levels, joined the Georgia State men's basketball staff in August 2022. After one year as the special assistant to head coach Jonas Hayes, he was named Director of Basketball Operations for the 2023-24 season.   Davison recently spent nine seasons as the director of basketball operations for the Georgia Bulldogs (2009-18) and has been a head coach in the NBA Development League (now known as the NBA-G League) and at the junior college level.   During his time on Mark Fox's staff at Georgia, Davison worked with Hayes from 2012-18.     Most recently, Davison served two seasons (2018-20) as the head coach at Notre Dame Academy in Duluth, Ga.   Davison began his coaching career at Winfield (Kan.) High School, where he was named the school's head basketball coach at age 24. He moved into collegiate coaching in 1979 as an assistant coach at Wichita State for two seasons, working with future NBA standouts Cliff Levingston and Antoine Carr.   His next stop was Garden City Community College, where he spent 17 seasons (1981-98), including his final six years as head coach. He sent more than 50 players to Division I programs, most notably Keith Smart, the hero of Indiana’s 1987 NCAA championship team.   Davison was the head coach of three NBA Development League franchises: Roanoke (2001-06), Colorado (2007) and Fort Wayne (2008). He also coached teams in the United States Basketball League (Dodge City, which he led to the 2000 USBL title) and the Continental Basketball Association (Fort Wayne).   Before going to Georgia in 2009, Davison served one year as head coach of the Qatar national team.   Davison is a 1972 graduate of Sterling (Kan.) College, where he played baseball and basketball and was the school's athlete of the year as a senior. He is a member of the Sterling College Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020.   He added a master’s degree in secondary school administration at Fort Hays State University.