[1] He attended LeFlore Magnet High School where he was a standout basketball player, which eventually landed him a scholarship to play for Alabama State University.
During his college career, which spanned between 2005–06 and 2008–09, he led the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in numerous statistical categories.
For his solid season, Hayles was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2007–08.
Also during his senior year he scored 13.7 points per game, which was good for eighth in the league, as he led the Hornets to a berth in the 2009 NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round.
Following his time at Alabama State, Hayles played in Spain during the 2009–10 season for AD Torreforta of the LEB Plata, where he averaged 10 points per game.