Coach Report Card: Is Butler's Brad Stevens Now an Elite Coach?

I know what you were probably thinking of when you read the headline.

"He coaches in a terrible conference" or "he inherited a good team."

While I realize that those are both true, why shouldn't he be considered an elite college basketball coach? The team that he took to the Final Four in Indianapolis that only had four players that grew up outside of Indiana.

Also, on the Final Four run they defeated powerhouses in Syracuse, Michigan State, and the up-and-coming Kansas State team.

And while doing that, he proved a great point. As a coach in Indiana, if you get the best talent from the state, you will be successful. (Tom Crean, take note of this.)

However, why is he better than Todd Lickliter? The coach went 131-61 during his tenure at Butler, including a Sweet 16 appearance before leaving for Iowa.

For one, a Final Four showing definitely helps, especially with the mid-major roster. That puts him ahead of Mark Few of Gonzaga, who has always had great teams but has never gotten that far in the tournament.

Also, his 89-15 record may have come with some players that he inherited. However, I don't care if you have the best players in the country playing in a mediocre conference, 89 wins opposed to just 15 losses is a great record to have.

The most games he's ever lost in a season is five, so he must be doing something right.

With that said, the reason that I think he'll be an elite coach for years to come is because I think he'll stay at Butler.

After success at Butler, Lickliter decided to leave for Iowa where he went just 38-57 before being fired after his third season.

Stevens learned from that.

He's one of the few men in this profession that seems to value his legacy more than the money he's earning. At 33 years old, he almost has 100 career victories. At this pace, and with this success, he has a chance to pass Bob Knight for the all-time record.

Am I saying he'll be there that long? I don't know, but I can guarantee that as long as he is there he will win. There's no doubt of that.

And he won't just win because of the weak conference, but because he knows how to.