Butler Bulldogs Brad Stevens Nearing the Top of Coaching Ranks

Brad Stevens has the Butler Bulldogs in the Elite Eight for a second consecutive season.

Admit it, you’re shocked. Just as you were last year when he had them one miracle Gordon Hayward shot away from winning the national championship.

Maybe it’s time we get used to the idea of seeing Butler and Stevens, its coach who would most certainly get carded at every club or bar in the United States if not for his public figure status, lingering in late-March.

Since taking over as head coach in April 2007, Stevens, 34, has compiled a 115-24 record while leading the Bulldogs to four Horizon Conference championships and three conference tournament titles.

That’s all well and good, but take a look at what he has done against the big boys more recently.

Entering Saturday’s Southeast Regional Final against No. 2 seed Florida, Butler, the No. 8 seed, is 8-1 in the last two NCAA Tournaments. During last year’s surprise run to the final, Stevens beat two coaching legends—Tom Izzo and Jim Boeheim—and lost to another, Mike Krzyzewski, by a hair.

In this eight-for-nine run, he has also knocked off Jamie Dixon’s Pittsburgh Panthers, Frank Martin’s Kansas State Wildcats, and Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers, and sent three Cinderella wannabes—UTEP, Murray State, and Old Dominion—home for the summer.

I hate to break it to all of the aforementioned coaches, but Stevens is younger, smarter, hipper, and better looking than each and every one of you.

Well, he’s younger. Smarter? He’s getting there, but it’s too early to say for sure. Better looking? Almost by default because the rest of his competition is either ancient (Boeheim) or just downright scary (Martin). And Stevens is about as hip as Boeheim, with dancing abilities comparable to Mark Madsen’s.

As far as coaching basketball is concerned, it’s hard not to appreciate what he has been able to do at Butler. His teams often look as overmatched on the court as he looks on the sideline, but looks are deceiving.

Stevens’ best player from the past two seasons is Gordon Hayward, a 2010 lottery pick of the Utah Jazz. Great kid, great player, but let’s rewind the tape and play a quick game of “Who would you rather have on your team?” I’ll give you two names; one is Hayward, and the other is the name of Butler’s opponent’s best player. Ask yourself who is better.

Start with last year’s Sweet 16 game against Syracuse. Wesley Johnson or Hayward? I got Johnson.

Elite Eight against Kansas State: Jacob Pullen or Hayward? Pullen, all day.

National Semifinal versus Michigan State: Durrell Summers (Kalin Lucas was injured) or Hayward? I’d take Hayward now, but no one was playing better than the Spartans’ swing-man at the time.

Final versus Duke: Nolan Smith or Hayward? Do I even have to answer that one?

This year, Shelvin Mack is the litter’s prize. Again, nice player, but probably not in the top 25 of this NCAA Tournament field. His sidekick, Matt Howard, looks like he just got out of drug rehab, and Stevens doesn’t have a McDonald’s All-American to speak of.

That’s a problem when some of your opponents this time of year have them coming off the bench.

Yet Stevens is still coaching his crew of nobodies, while all of those coaching legends and McDonald’s All-Americans are home on their sofas drinking Shamrock Shakes and wishing they had a game to prepare for.

Most observers believe that if these deep tournament runs continue, it will be difficult for Butler to keep Stevens around. He signed an extension through the 2021-22 season just days after the finals loss to Duke, one that pays him in the ballpark of $1 million per season.

That is relatively low for one of the game’s top coaches, and it doesn’t compare to the money that Oregon, Clemson and Wake Forest were throwing at him last spring, offers that are sure to come with the conclusion of every season.

Stevens has sworn his loyalty to Butler, saying he would only leave “if they kicked me out.”

Given the encore performance he has orchestrated this season, it’s unlikely that will happen anytime soon.

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