This Butler Run is More Impressive than the Last

It’s happening again. Butler is busting brackets at a town near you. And after maybe the most improbable run in sports; a run that sent a small school from Indiana three inches from winning a national title… they’re doing it again. And this time without their best player, without the ninth pick in the NBA Draft Gordon Hayward. Teams rarely can just reload after losing a player like Hayward. Small mid-majors definitely don’t.

February 3rd, 2011. Butler had just lost to league bottom-dweller Youngstown State. It was one of their two Horizon wins all year. It capped off a stretch of losing three of their last four games for Butler. Games against teams, mind you, that couldn’t hold a candle to Pitt or Wisconsin.

Butler was looking like their title run was a one trick pony (mind you a one trick pony that any mid major in the history of mid majors would have taken).

And then something happened. What it was…I don’t know. Butler went into Cleveland State, the top team in the league, and crushed them. And they haven’t lost since.

This Butler team isn’t last year’s team who danced to only a couple losses on the season. At one point, people were wondering if this team was even…good. Butler has had some players step up in Hayward’s absence. Andrew Smith is turning into one of the best players in the conference, and Khyle Marshall looks like a solid post player as well.

But, that doesn’t change the fact that Gordon Hayward is in the NBA.  Look at last year’s Elite Eight: Michigan St, Tennessee, Kansas State, Butler, Duke, Baylor, West Virginia, Kentucky.  All of those teams lost significant players to the NBA draft. And unless Kentucky pulls an upset tonight, Butler will be the only repeat team. If you were a Hollywood writer and wrote this script, you would be fired… the guy who wrote the Little Mermaid thinks it is too unrealistic.

To do what this team is doing, with “3-star recruits,” and minus Matt Howard, IU and Purdue “rejects,” just doesn’t happen.

Shelvin Mack: offered by Butler, Akron, Bradley, Evansville, and Marshall.  Ron Nored: offered by Butler, Harvard, South Alabama, and Western Kentucky.  Andrew Smith: offered by Butler, Central Michigan, and Liberty.  Khyle Marshall was a big time recruit (sarcasm): Offered by Butler, Auburn, Miami Fl, Old Dominion, South Florida, South Carolina, UAB.  Chase Stigall: offered by Butler. Zach Hahn: offered by Butler.

That doesn’t look like an Elite Eight team. It doesn’t even look like a Horizon League winning team. Heck only two teams that offered any of those players even made the tournament.  Akron as a 15, and Old Dominion, who lost to…Butler.

I know the Elite Eight isn’t the Title Game. I know there is a big difference. But let’s really put this into context. Duke couldn’t reload to make another run after just losing Scheyer. Butler has no business being an Elite Eight team this year, and frankly they don’t care.