Why Butler?

- ND tends to compete for similar recruits. Not many of Butler's players are super athletic or McDonald's AAs or come from a demographic that would struggle to assimilate into ND's culture;
- Butler doesn't generally employ JUCOs;
- Butler has avoided some of the ilk associated with the dirtiness of AAU and the rest of the college dynamic;
- Butler has maintained academic standards even with the success they've experienced;
- Butler has pretty mediocre facilities, including an arena built in 1928. Not surprisingly, ground to renovate it was broken in 2011 (after the Final Four success);
- Butler's basketball budget (at least according to Office of Post Secondary Education's data) has always been less than Notre Dame's, and has trailed it by a magnitude of more than $1 million dollars since I've been tracking these this (this past year was the first year the discrepancy crept within the $1 million dollar mark but it was still a meaningful $900k delta); and
- And despite whatever resource advantages ND might have over Butler, from 2000 to 2009 (the year before the Bulldog's first Final Four championship appearance), Butler had made the NCAA tournament 6 times, advanced to the 2nd round 4 of those times, and made the Sweet 16 twice. I didn't include 2010 and 2011 seasons for comparison's sake because those are almost too extraoridinary for ND (or any non-elite program, really) to reach.

I am still perplexed why ND can't be as good as Butler. Butler has many of the same resource issues plaguing ND. I found an old Indy Star article from 2010 that I think is a good summary of the program (below).

To date, many adamant Brey supporters point out that "I'd be all in favor of hiring Brad Stevens if he was a reasonable candidate to replace Brey. But he's not." But the conversation should be redirected by not even focusing on Brad Stevens' success but rather Todd Lickliter. A lot of people look at Thad Motta, but he was only there for a season. It'd be interesting to see how and why Butler was able to maintain such success.

Butler illustrates that success is possible, even if not easy. And it's not due to one messiah coach. Butler has done a great job identifying multiple successful coaches who have been able to sustain a sucessful legacy and program. During that same time, ND has maintained a consistent high-achieving regular season program but has left a little to be desired on the post-season.

For the record, I fully understand that Butler didn't make the tourney this past year. But I think the Bulldogs have accumulated enough goodwill to overlook this year's 21-14 record. I am surprised the NIT didn't select the Bulldogs, though.

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Indy Star
Butler recruits enjoy ride -- which will only help program in future

Kyle Neddenriep
kyle.neddenriep@indystar.com
Apr 1, 2010|

Though he didn't have a direct hand in Butler's Final Four run, Chrishawn Hopkins has been basking in the glow just the same.

Hopkins, a senior guard from Manual High School and one of three Butler recruits for next season, was among the hundreds of fans who met the team at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 3 a.m. Sunday.

"It's exciting," Hopkins said. "So many people have been coming up to me and congratulating me on Butler going to the Final Four."

For Hopkins, as well as fellow recruits Erik Fromm (Bloomington South) and Khyle Marshall (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Butler's Final Four appearance has only reaffirmed their decision to play for coach Brad Stevens and the Bulldogs.

The increased visibility that comes with a Final Four appearance can only help Butler with future recruiting classes. But this is a program that has prided itself on finding players who fit the "Butler Way" or have flown under the radar.

Don't expect that to change.

"The bottom line is that (Butler) isn't for everybody," Stevens said. "If somebody is more concerned about a new arena or a new plush practice facility or Jumbotrons, that's not here.

"But if people really matter, if long-term relationships really matter, if preparing for the next 40 years after graduation really matters, along with a chance to win at a high level and play with a great group of guys, I'd put this experience against anybody."

For in-state recruits and those in surrounding states, Butler's name already carries weight. The Bulldogs have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances since 1997 and were considered a darkhorse Final Four candidate before this season.

"Even if they didn't make the Final Four, everybody knows they are a great program," said Warsaw junior guard Nic Moore, who is being recruited by Butler and has made an unofficial visit. "I don't know that it makes me like them more because I liked them already."

But in the eyes of recruits who have offers from Big Ten schools, Butler's run may show that a program perceived as "midmajor" can compete at the highest level
nationally.

"It does have a big impact," said Park Tudor sophomore Yogi Ferrell, who has scholarship offers from Butler, Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Virginia. "It shows how good the coaches are and how well they play together as a whole."

Jerry Meyer, chief analyst and scout for Rivals.com's basketball recruiting coverage, said Butler's increased exposure this week may open some doors to a recruit or two outside the area.

"It has to help them," Meyer said. "It's not going change anything about their
methodology or how they try to find guys who are a good fit for their program. But there might be guys out there who are a good fit who might not have considered Butler otherwise."

With a number of talented in-state players in the 2011 and '12 classes, Butler may not have to look far for recruits in coming years.

"The Indiana kids know about Butler," said Evan Daniels, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "I don't see why a kid from there wouldn't want to go there to be an impact player and help them get to another Final Four. But it's not like this is the first year they've been good."

Stevens knows not all recruits are wowed by the charm and history of Hinkle Fieldhouse, built in 1928. Like the Butler program, it's not for everybody.

"All you need is a gym and a basketball," said Fromm, who committed before his senior season. "It doesn't matter to me if there's a fancy practice facility or not. The biggest thing is the people. When I visited Butler, I could tell those guys were just like me. I think that matters a lot more than facilities. If you're into that stuff, you're probably not going to go there."

Teams take on the personality of their coach. Without going too deeply into psychoanalysis, Brey seems to tighten up in the post-season. The mock gets a little tighter, adn it's written all over him. I think he really, really hopes to do better, but doesn't have the chops to make it happen. I think the team plays that way.

When in college, he did a dorm visit (by the way, Mike Brey is just the best guy, very funny, personable-He's going to be great on TV whenever he feels like hanging his coaching mock turtleneck up), and I asked him a question very similar to this-basically, how do you compete with the Syracuses and UConns of the world, since you, obviously, cannot take in a rental player from Baltimore.

He said that he views the way he builds his team as closer to Butler than UConn. Take in a few good players, build them up, get them ingrained in the system, and then turn them into an actual team.

Now, why do other pro-chemistry teams make it further in the tournament than Notre Dame, I don't have an answer for that. And it kills me.

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show on the way in to the office this morning and they were talking about how the Sweet 16 basically breaks down to the upper-tier big schools with their one-and-done phenoms, the mid-majors who have 4-5 guys who have played together for four years because they're not good enough to go pro early, and a few big schools who get hot.

Out of those categories, we're most like (I think) the mid-majors. Brey's philosophy (similar to Ben Howland's when he was at Pitt) is to get guys who can come in, grow up together and play together for years so that they really come to know each other, and then have those guys gel in a way that allows them to compete with other teams' superior athleticism.

Now I still don't know why we cannot make a run to the Sweet 16 with this philosophy, and I agree we've underachieved in the tourney relative to the actual mid-majors that are closer to our level. But if one looks at ND (based on the recruiting limitations put on Brey) as a mid-major, I think a more fair analysis of Brey can be made.