Smart will be smart enough to quickly leave for a bigger payday like the last VCU coach did. Brad Stevens will probably stay a Butler a few more years. Seriously though, I think Stevens is one the smartest, most analytical coaches at any level. He's destined for much greater things. Butler is just the first step.
So what do you think the chances are of a guy like Stevens staying and trying to turn Butler into a powerhouse?
Close to zero. He's an Indiana boy (likewise) who grew up just outside of Indianapolis, went to college at an Indiana school (likewise) and even worked at Eli Lilly for a while (likewise). But perhaps more than most places, successful Indiana boys tend to eventually leave the state and bloom elsewhere. Butler isn't the kind of school that can be turned into a basketball powerhouse. They play in the Horizon League. Stevens is destined for greatness somewhere else on another level.
Well Stevens is white, but Smart's name is Smart so... The answer is ... Billy Donovan? since he mentored both guys. Seriously though in terms of coaching this year Smart had VCU looking a lot better than Butler, they've pretty much demolished everyone after starting from the a terrible seed except for FSU and that game was buck wild. Butler was a basket away from not advancing each round. Of course even if both these teams had gone out in the round of 16 you'd still have to say both coaches did awesome jobs. The point is however that it's hard to tell in the case of VCU if it's pure fluke that they're rolling through the tournament or it's something Coach Smart is doing. They put the spank on some serious teams in the tourney after being borderline suck through the previous 25 games. The thing about Stevens is should hold him dear to you nerds' hearts is that he is a diehard sabremetrics guy in the vein of Morey. Therefore it's probably a safe assumption that if he says at Butler using the same forumulas he's been using to recruit and coach his kids, the school could be a legitimate top 20 team for as long as he chooses to remain there. It's crazy to think that 5-6 years ago Shaka Smart was coaching in HIGH SCHOOL, he wasn't even the head coach he was an assistant. Now he's in the Final Four. A_3PO being likewise, the dude hating Brad Stevens with every fiber of his being has got to be Knight. Stevens looks to be breaking all Knights records in his own state.
Forgot what station it was, but they said the only school Stevens would consider leaving for is Indiana.
Going to IU (or Purdue ) would make a lot of sense. That is a program he could make into a powerhouse. Tom Crean sure isn't getting it done but he's on an expensive 10-year contract.
Indeed, Butler is too small and too poor to become a powerhouse. A eventual Gonzaga maybe. There aren't many powerhouse private schools. Duke is the only powerhouse. Villanova, Syracuse? Who else? It is really difficult for small private schools to break into the basketball world.
Since Purdue just extended Painter for 8 years, it doesn't look like Stevens could get to either school for a long time.
Isn't Stevens locked up by Butler for the next decade? Shame, if Rick was going to leave this offseason, Brad Stevens would have been near the top of my list for possible replacements. The man brilliant though, after two straight NCAA finals appearances you have to think that tons of recruits are going to want to play for him.
I wouldn't say Crean isn't getting it done at Indiana. You have too remember, he is cleaning up a big mess that Sampson left. When he was hired, he immediately cut the players that were not making the grades and or not going too class. First couple of seasons were walk ons, the trainer and only a few scholarship players. Crean's recruiting is coming along nicely, bigtime 5star F/C Cody Zeller (Indiana Mr Basketball) coming in next year. 2012 will be the big year in recruiting with two 5star players, two 4star and a 3star. If you watched Indiana this year, they were much more competitive. I say two or three years tops and IU basketball will be back in a big way. Crean has full support of the university and rightly so. Crean's getting it done the right way, he's recruiting, guys going to class, he's entrenched in the community and the wins are coming slowly but surely. Crimson and Crean baby.
I wish Crean well and understand the putrid mess he stepped into, but IU needs to start winning games. In his 3rd season, they went 12-20 overall, 3-15 in the Big Ten and lost their last 9 games. They better step it up big-time next year or he probably isn't the guy to get it done. Looking forward to 2012/13 is nothing more than a smokescreen because if they bomb out again those guys in 2012 will go elsewhere. When it comes to winning games, his credibility is on the line this coming season.
I'm sorry I derailed this thread. I like Stevens a great deal, if it was another time, I'd be all for him coming to IU. You're right about the wins but losing Creek to injury, Watford not being the same after he broke his hand and virtually no inside presence, I feel Crean gets longer rope. The team is still very young. I say Crean gets two more years, after that if there is little improvement then... Sidenote: Are you a Purdue guy? Asking only because of a previous post in this thread.
I'm a Purdue guy. BS ChE. But I wore an IU baseball cap almost every day when I went there because I remained a huge fan of IU basketball.
