Butler's Stevens Looks Like a Genius

"Genius"

Last year I was the first to blast Brad Stevens for not leaving Butler for the Big Time program's that came calling in the wake of their amazing 2010 NCAA Tournament run. There were several major schools including Wake Forest that offered Stevens big money to leave Butler but he chose to stay put. I thought the guy was crazy and still do but he's looking like a genius right now.

My argument was, why stay at Butler when you can go to a big time program and recruit the best players available instead of having to settle for mediocre players. Butler will never out recruit the likes of North Carolina, Duke, Kansas etc. They won't even get better players than Purdue or Indiana and they're in the same state.

The Bull Dawgs play in the Horizon League and never play on national television. The top recruits  want to play on TV point blank. They also want to play in front of crowds larger than they did in high school and Hinkle Fieldhouse holds just over 6,000 fans. A major recruit plays in front of more than that on a regular basis.

I figured like everyone, that the miracle of last year was a once and a lifetime opportunity and it made all of the sense in the world to strike while the iron was hot and take the big money. There's no way Butler will be back in this situation again. Remember George Mason's incredible run to the Final Four in 2006 and how coach Jim Larranaga decided to stay put? I thought that he was out of his mind because they would never repeat that feat again. Although I did give him a pass because he'd been at the school for more than 28 years.

So I could understand why he decided to stay and finish his career. However, Brad Stevens was just 33 years old and at the beginning of a very successful coaching career. I mean you've got to leave now, I thought.  If you can't get the big time recruits and you can't play on national TV and Butler doesn't have the money to pay you like the major programs do. Why stay?

I heard the reporters prior to the game against Pitt ask Stevens if they recruited Pitt's McGhee who is from nearby Anderson, In.. He replied, "no not at all, we didn't think we could get him so we didn't waste our time".  I immediately said, that's why you should have left last year when you had the opportunity.

  Well... I guess Brad Stevens understood something that I didn't. It's all about basketball at the end of the day. He's out playing and coaching all of the big boys and is still alive in the tournament for the second year in a row. Butler is in the Sweet Sixteen and it looks like they can keep winning. Why not they just knocked off the #1 seed Pitt. Doesn't look like a fluke now does it? I'm completely blown away that this guy is winning with this group of players. Not that they can't play but they are playing at Butler because they weren't recruited by the big boys.

Something to be said about fundemental basketball and pure coaching ability. They've got it and I can't hate on them. I still would have taken the money though.   Go Butler!!!

Jay Graves
jaygraves@thejaygravesreport.com
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport