Former guard Eric Hayes returned to the Terps this season as a graduate assistant coach. He’s also pursuing a master’s degree in education.

Eric Hayes set foot on Gary Williams Court wearing his Terrapins men’s basketball gear for one of the first times in more than two years Saturday.

But rather than hitting his trademark three-point shots, Hayes sat on the bench and watched the Terps scrimmage. It’s part of his new job as a graduate assistant coach.

Much has changed in College Park since Hayes helped lead the Terps to a share of the 2010 ACC regular-season title his senior year. There’s a new coach, a new athletic director and even a new team logo.

Yet it’s still the same university where he developed lifelong friendships, the same school he grew up rooting for as a child.

“I love it,” Hayes said of his new role. “It’s the perfect situation for me.”

Coach Mark Turgeon offered him the position after Hayes, who re-enrolled at the university over the summer to pursue a master’s degree in education, asked if he could join the coaching staff. After two stints playing overseas, the 25-year-old wasn’t ready to leave the hardwood.

“I’m so glad that he is here,” Turgeon said at media day earlier this month. “From day one, Eric bought into me being here even though he played for Coach [Gary] Williams. … I am in a position to help him become a better instructor, and he will decide over these next two years as he is in graduate school if coaching is something he really wants to pursue.”

A typical coaching day for Hayes consists of responding to any team requests, or as he calls it, being the “yes man.” That includes looking over film, aiding in drills, attending practice early or staying late to help players work on their shooting or passing.

Those skills were widely regarded as Hayes’ specialty. The Woodbridge, Va., native scored 1,201 points over his four-year Terps career and finished with the sixth-most assists in program history.

Hayes attributes those stats to the same person responsible for getting him interested in coaching: his father, Kendall.

“Everything I know from basketball really came from him,” Hayes said. “From a young age he was teaching me the proper fundamentals [like] how to shoot, how to pass [and] how to dribble. I really learned everything from him and whenever I have a question, that’s who I go to first.”

Not only did Kendall teach Hayes the game as a child, but he also coached him at Potomac High School in Dumfries, Va. Kendall helmed the boys varsity team for 21 years, leading the Panthers to four state championship appearances and one Group AAA title before stepping down in 2006 to attend his son’s college games.

“He taught me how to be a man,” Hayes said. “He lived the right way, he’s a devoted Christian and so am I. I’ve just learned that lifestyle from him, just to be a good person.”

Kendall Hayes returned to Potomac in 2009 and started coaching his daughter Hannah’s girls varsity team. He stepped down in July 2011, less than a year before Hayes began his own coaching career.

“For right now, I’ve taken reins over the coaching in the family,” the younger Hayes said, “but he’ll always be the best coach in the family in my view.”

Hayes still misses his playing days, though. After playing professionally in Spain and Lithuania and a brief stint in the NBA D-League, he considers himself retired.

“[College] was the best four years in my life and the best four years of basketball of my life,” Hayes said. “So I’ll always miss it, but I’m happy to be back here and be a part of it in a different way.”

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