The Butler Way is the right way

It was a season of magic, defiance, and continuous winning — dating all the way back to last December — that came to an end with a 61-59 loss to Duke at Monday night’s national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

And at one time, it almost seemed like a step-for-step reenactment of “Hoosiers” would take place for national championship.

Really, the only way a better story could have been written was the so-called “mid-major” winning a national championship on its home turf, six miles from campus.
One shot short, and, man, it was close.

That would have been two buzzer-beating, championship-winning shots at two different levels for Butler guard Gordon Hayward.

This game wasn’t lost by Butler, as CBS analyst Clark Kellogg said after the game. It was won by Duke and the 30-year veteran coach Mike Krzyzewski. It was won by Blue Devils’ center Brian Zoubek countering every substitution and every look third-year Butler coach Brad Stevens threw his way, thanks to Matt Howard’s foul trouble. It was won by Duke forward Kyle Singler not only sinking, but working for, every look he had.

It was a season with milestones never before accomplished in the age of the 65-team NCAA tournament format. With the modifications coming, these were milestones that will never again take place in the perfect era of a 65-team field.

How fitting for this to have happened to a squad like Butler? What Duke matched up against last night was a team that chartered a flight to just three games all season prior to the tournament. It was a program that has a basketball budget of less than half of Mike Krzyzweski’s salary — a mere portion if he takes the $12 to $15 million deal the New Jersey Nets are prepared to throw his way.

It couldn’t have happened at a better time given the condition of the Hoosier state’s basketball. As IU coach Tom Crean continues to eradicate the sleaze and embarrassment left behind by Kelvin Sampson and much of his staff, Butler kept Indiana as basketball’s heartland.

On that note, here’s the scary thing for Crean and Purdue coach Matt Painter — Butler has arrived. Don’t plan on them leaving anytime soon as it relates to both winning and recruiting. 

And although Butler fought, scratched and clawed even in the midst of the “Hoosiers” theme song on CBS at the four-minute media timeout, it wasn’t enough this time.

One shot short of a national championship only gives Butler another foundation on which to build. Should Stevens remain at Butler for the remainder of his contract or a longer tenure, this is a team that will go back to the Final Four and maybe even win it all.

“When you coach these guys, you can be at peace from a win or loss standpoint,” Stevens said after the game. “What they’ve done, and done together, will last a lot longer than the outcome.”

The Butler Way: It’s what separates them from the one-and-done and agent-hounding world of college basketball, and it’s what has elevated Butler to Indiana basketball’s elite.