by Kent Sterling Brandon Miller is 35 years old and has the job of his dreams, but has requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, Butler University athletics director Barry Collier announced yesterday in a statement. The message from Collier is simple and vague, “Brandon Miller has requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, […]
by Kent Sterling Butler’s Basketball team had a tough time during its first year in the Big East Conference. Brad Stevens left to become the head coach of the Boston Celtics, Roosevelt Jones was lost for the season to injury, and the Bulldogs lost 11 games by a total of 48 points. The 2013-2014 season […]
by Kent Sterling It’s been almost a decade since Butler experienced a season like this one. Sometimes we forget that in the middle of all that excellence through the Collier, Matta, Lickliter, and Stevens years that Butler won only 13 games in 2004-2005, but they did. That aberrational season was in the Horizon League, so […]
by Kent Sterling As the basketball coach at quaint Butler University on historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, there was no doubt who was in charge. Dealing with 20-year-olds who owed their scholarships to coach Brad Stevens, getting players to show up on time was easy. Getting a player being paid $45K short of $12 million is a […]
by Kent Sterling Today’s games ended much as 2013 with be remembered among hoops fans in Indiana – thrilling, but ultimately unfulfilling. The Pacers and Hoosiers kicked things off simultaneously, and I did my best to keep an eye on both while at Bankers Life Fieldhouse celebrating the New Year with the tenth sellout crowd […]
by Kent Sterling Matt Howard is no longer the kid he was when I met him as a sophomore at Connersville High School, but in so many ways he is exactly the same guy. After playing summer basketball on the same team as my son, Matt attended Butler, led the Bulldogs to consecutive National Championship […]
by Kent Sterling What happened to the days when coaches were obviously stooges who said and did the wrong thing so often that we couldn’t believe a conscious athletic director would continue to employ him. I’m sure they are somewhere, but no place to be found in central Indiana, and certainly not in Hinkle Fieldhouse […]
by Kent Sterling To reach their potential, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and former Butler star forward Matt Howard needed each other. Stevens won Howard’s on early mornings when others had something better to do. Eight o’clock pool play games at the Best of the Midwest tournament in July, 2006, were played in front of […]
by Kent Sterling Work ethic + dedication x timing (squared) = a great play-by-play job one year after graduating from college. Mark Minner has worked hard in secondary roles broadcasting Butler and other sports events, and stands at the crossroads of good fortune and opportunity as he has earned the gig as a play-by-play voice […]
by Kent Sterling “The Butler Way means that Butler people know best, and Butler stays in house to hire its basketball coaches. From Collier to Matta to Lickliter to Stevens has been the line of succession for almost a quarter century. None of those hires has given any reason for Athletic Director Barry Collier to […]