by Kent Sterling With Shelvin Mack leaving for the NBA, the best team in Horizon League history just lost its best remaining player, but it still remains a special program, and that is going to have to be enough for fans. What they were able to experience the last two seasons was a moment of […]
by Kent Sterling From the first NCAA Tourney in 1939 through 2009, Butler advanced to the Sweet Sixteen twice and the Elite Eight exactly zero times. In Matt Howard’s junior and senior years, they have done both twice, and are 40 minutes from their second straight trip to the Final Four. This is not to […]
by Kent Sterling Matt Howard is getting a lot of attention, and the media is focusing on some of the traits that make him such a unique kid. Some view him as quaintly off-kilter with his rusty bike, floppy socks, and somewhat erratic hair. When Butler plays Wisconsin tonight at 9:57 p.m. tonight in New […]
by Kent Sterling There is something about March that rewards virtue and penalizes the weak. Matt Howard and Butler continue to dance into the Sweet Sixteen, and Bruce Pearl is sent back to Knoxville to sweat (literally) out his final days as the bastion of amorality he has always been. Better to spend time learning […]
by Kent Sterling It started with a visit from Zach Hahn’s Mom Connie. She asked me if I was emotional about the day. Inside, I thought, why would I? It’s Butler’s Senior Day, not Loyola’s. Hahn played his last game at venerable Hinkle Fieldhouse, (if you don’t precede Hinkle Fieldhouse with the word “venerable”, athletic […]
by Kent Sterling There is something so fundamentally right about watching high school basketball in the state of Indiana that regardless of the teams competing, it’s compelling. Nothing over the holidays is more fun than making the trip to New Castle to watch the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. I’ve never seen Washington or […]
by Juston Whitaker Four teams have made it through the madness of March to this year’s NCAA men’s Final Four, and one can win the title in its home city. UCLA did it in 1972, in Los Angeles. Now, the Butler Bulldogs, whose first Final Four is in their home city, are two games away […]
by Kent Sterling When I watch Matt Howard play for Butler, I’m reminded of the kid that came to the Spiece Central Stars as a sophomore-to-be from Connersville. He showed up early for practice with either his Dad or brother driving, and he would shoot. His Dad, Stan, and I would talk about things. One […]
by Kent Sterling There is some discontent in Bloomington. The Hoosiers have posted 16-wins over the past two seasons, and that isn’t going to get it. The recruiting class that is supposed to prove that last year’s top ten class was no fluke currently consists of two kids at positions where Indiana already has depth. […]