Reflecting back on the Hall of Fame Career DeAndre Haynes

By Ty Linder

"Voice of the Golden Flashes"

Hall of Fame Weekend is one of my favorite times of the year at Kent State. Not only is the event usually surrounded by a bevy of great home sporting contests, but it’s always been a pleasure to see former Flashes greats from all different eras back on campus.

I consider myself to be exceptionally fortunate to have the job I do. And I am equally thankful to have had the chance to hone my craft at a pretty young age. When I was an undergraduate at KSU, I had the chance to announce several Golden Flashes men and women’s basketball games on the main radio network. 

When you are in this business, you remember some players and coaches better than others for whatever reason. It’s just the way it is. And I remember one player in particular has always held a special place in my KSU sports memory bank.

DeAndre Haynes had the impossible task of taking over a role vacated by Andrew Mitchell. That would be like someone saying, “We are going to redo ‘Gone With the Wind’ and we need some young unknown actor to take Clark Gable’s place.” And this is all after an Elite Eight run!

But the young sparkplug from the Motor City never disappointed, and despite some occasional growing pains evolved into one of the best all-around players this prestigious program has ever had. And most of the time he did it with his trademark wide smile and fox-like grin he still exhibits today while on the KSU bench.

As a player, Haynes was perhaps the most unselfish teammate I have ever seen. He left KSU as its assists leader, minutes leader and had the honor of becoming the school’s first Mid-American Conference Player of the Year when he helped lead the Flashes to the 2006 MAC title and NCAA Tournament – in his hometown of Detroit. 

My hat – err, headset is off to DeAndre Haynes on his induction into the Varsity K Hall of Fame. It is richly deserved.