[knicksfan7Participant]

I give this guy soooo much credit. That team he has is not of final four talent, but he makes more of less than any coach in America, PERIOD! He is one day, maybe next week, win a championship at Butler. He gets players that buy into the Butler Way and play better than they ever have in their lives. I guarantee that Matt Howard will get a hard look by NBA teams, Shelvin Mack will be a 1st rounder either this year or next year. Also I love Marshall, and that freshman point guard that came in late. Butler is a step up from Gonzaga, and is here to stay. Enough Said!

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

I agree with everything you said here, but like Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter, I don’t see him staying at Butler too long.

 

2 Final fours with solid talent, imagine he had Indiana’s or UConn’s recruiting pull? Crazy

[knicksfan7Participant]

The guy is loyal to a fault. IF Indiana or Purdue had an opening that is the only places I see him going. Nothing tells me he is leaving the state of Indiana. Also, the players he wants aren’t guys that are future one and dones he molds guys into great players through tough D and a winning mentality. I have not watched a team that is mentally tougher than Butler this whole season.

[getbucketsParticipant]

 I just got done watching the game and was having a discussion about Brad Stevens with my boy… He was wondering how long it would be until he was out of there… There are some pretty big jobs that opened up recently and I have to imagine hes going to be on the top of everyone’s list. But like.. is the tennessee or GT job really a step up for him? I know they are bigger programs with bigger budgets in more respected conferences but hes going to be in his second consecutive final four.. how many other coaches can say that? i think butler needs to give him his money and extend him and they have a real shot at becoming one of the big boys (if they arent already)

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

They aren’t a Big boy. 2 Final Four years are impressive, but I don’t think we call them that. Calling them up and coming? Cool.

But how do we know Stevens doesn’t want to leave Indiana? The only way we know is if a big job in another state opens up. Realistically, there’s probably 10 "big" jobs.

Also, I agree with you. Tennessee and GT aren’t big jobs so I don’t see him going there. Georgia Tech is a interesting job because they do pull recruits, but not big enough to sway Stevens IMO

[knicksfan7Participant]

You’re on point about Tennessee and Georgia Tech, as much as they want to succeed in basketball it is FOOTBALL that is #1. Butler Basketball is the face of the Butler Basketball program, and he won’t want to work a job where he is competing against football. The guy isn’t leaving the state of Indiana.

[knicksfan7Participant]

Butler is knocking on the door of Big Boy status they need to just keep toughening up their OOC. It sucks they don’t have a strong football program though b/c if they did it would be easier to move conferences. Though, the only conference that on the mid-major level that is better in terms of fitting for Butler is the Missouri Valley Conference, but I doubt they leave the Horizon.

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 No more will I underrate Butler and Brad Stevens. Great coach and he deserves everyone’s respect. 

[PortugooseParticipant]

What, none of you guys remember the 12-year extension Stevens signed with Butler almost a year ago?

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story

[knicksfan7Participant]

@Portugoose you do realize that those contracts have many loopholes to get out of them, and I am sure that contract is going to get restructured or has incentives in them for Coach Stevens for making the Final Four this season.

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

Contract is worthless. We seen DOZENS of coaches sign extensions only to leave

[Jonboy136Participant]

I think that Bulter coach Brad Stevens has now elevated to a near Tom Izzo status in terms of NCAA tourney success.  There are some guys that you don’t bet against in the tourney, and discounting this season, Izzo is the best at performance with below elite talent.  Stevens is a force to be feared, and I see Butler becoming the Duke of the Midwest if he stays.

[PortugooseParticipant]

Why would Stevens want to leave?  If he wants to, he can become the next Mike Kryszewski and transform Butler into a perrenial power.  Two Final Fours in a row?  Possibly three NBA players in the last two years despite no McDonald’s All-Americans?  The entire Indiana pipeline could be his.

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

Why would Stevens want to leave? If he wants to, he can become the next Mike Kryszewski and transform Butler into a perrenial power. Two Final Fours in a row? Possibly three NBA players in the last two years despite no McDonald’s All-Americans? The entire Indiana pipeline could be his.

 

Ya’ll do know Duke had some Final Fours and such before Coach K got there right? He’s not going to turn Butler into Duke. Not with Indiana looming above him. Calm Down

[delfamParticipant]

 a lot of Iindiana high-school players won’t go to Butler just cause it’s a private school and you need good grades. If he went to Indiana he would get a much bigger talent pool.

[PortugooseParticipant]

You implying a difference between Hoosiers and North Carolinans?  Duke is also a private school that requires good grades.  I’m not saying Butler should recruit blue-chippers with 1.0 GPAs, but their national exposure can start getting them the 3 and 4-star recruits looking for a good education as well.  Brad Stevens has been able to get better and better recruits of late, even stealing Marshall from the state of Florida.

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

You implying a difference between Hoosiers and North Carolinans? Duke is also a private school that requires good grades. I’m not saying Butler should recruit blue-chippers with 1.0 GPAs, but their national exposure can start getting them the 3 and 4-star recruits looking for a good education as well. Brad Stevens has been able to get better and better recruits of late, even stealing Marshall from the state of Florida.

I’m not implying anything. I’m TELLING you he’s not going to turn Butler into Duke. For one, Duke had more history before Coach K, including final fours and top 5 draft picks. The second is: Butler isn’t the best school in it’s area. You can argue it doesn’t have the best history either. Indiana is still locking up the monster Indiana recruits. That doesn’t look like it’s changing either, even with Indiana down, They still got Cody Zeller from Butler.

I give him credit, alot of credit because two final fours aren’t easy to get to, but to compare Butler to Duke is unfair to him.

 

[knicksfan7Participant]

Brad Stevens is making Butler into Butler. He is not modeling any type of school, it is not called the Butler way for nothing. Top recruits are not going to want to play @Butler besides it’s inferior conference, but also their team style of playing. Also, Brad Stevens knows he isn’t going to outrecruit IU or Purdue, not his intentions. He looks for guys that are under the radar and play tough defense first and foremost. He will still win in the state of Indiana, and get some guys that we’ll say at the end of the day had great college careers. He is going to keep winning no matter what. Indiana and Purdue could #1 and #2 in the land and Brad Stevens will still have a top 10-15 program in the country on a consistent basis. I am probably not even giving Coach Stevens enough credit his program is going to be in the 5-10 range over the next 3-5 years. He is going to go to more Final Fours, and will win a national championship in the future, maybe the near future even.

[OnionsParticipant]

 Butler is at it’s pinnacle. 

I’ll wait until he starts landing bigger recruits. Cody Zeller would have been a nice start if that had happen.

Look at Gonzaga’s success (national hype) and their best recruits have been Austin Daye (4*, mid-teens postion rank) and Matt Bouldin (4*, mid-teens position rank). That is after solid success in the NCAA Tournament and sending players into the NBA.

Two things interest me.

1) Will Crean bring IU back? Because as someone else stated above, I think the one job Stevens would leave for is Indiana. You aren’t a homegrown Indiana kid, go to college in Indiana, coach at an Indiana-based school, and not dream of coaching Indiana. Especially being the one who could potentiallly bring them back to prominence.

2) If a blue blood comes calling. Coach K only has a handful of years left, if that. Roy Williams will be gone by the end of this decade.

I realize Indiana is still technically blue blood. It’s that they have kind of been down for so long, you can only live off your history for a period of time. I mean other than the fluke finals apperance in 02, you have to go back to the early 90’s under Bobby Knight to find consistent Sweet 16’s, the 80’s for a championship.

[knicksfan7Participant]

@Onions you bring up great points regarding the Butler program. Idk if Butler will make future final fours for sure, but I do believe they will with Stevens at the helm. He owns the Horizon just as well as Mark Few owns the WCC. I was the one that said Indiana. He isn’t leaving the state of Indiana, and their is no guarantee that Coach Crean brings back IU to what it once was. I give Tom Crean two, maybe three years to turn things around at IU. If he does then they will be targeting Brad Stevens. The 2nd choice outside of Butler would be Purdue, but I do not see Matt Painter getting fired any time soon. Also as for recruits, Brad Stevens is going to get guys to come that fit his style of play. He is never going to go after 5 star’s unless they are in state. The majority of his recruits are going to be 3-4 star who will get a fair shot at the NBA in 3-4 years after successful college careers at Butler.

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