BUTLER Bulldogs - 2015-16 Blue ribbon's Preview

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS:

BACKCOURT A 

FRONTCOURT B- 

BENCH/DEPTH C 

INTANGIBLES B+

LOCATION Indianapolis, IN 

CONFERENCE Big East 

LAST SEASON 23-11 (.676) 

CONFERENCE RECORD 12-6 (t-2nd) 

STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 3/2 

NICKNAME Bulldogs

COLORS Blue & White 

HOMECOURT Hinkle Fieldhouse (10,000)  

COACH Chris Holtmann (Taylor ’94) 

RECORD AT SCHOOL 23-11 (1 year)

OVERALL RECORD  67-65 (4 years) 

ASSISTANTS

Terry Johnson (IPFW ’98) Michael Lewis (Indiana ’00) Ryan Pedon (Wooster ’00) 

WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 28-22-27-14-23 

RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 19-106-21-154-30 

2014-15 FINISH: Lost in NCAA third round.

COACH AND PROGRAM

When he arrived in Indianapolis as a ready, willing and able assistant in 2013 after a three-year stint as head coach at Gardner-Webb, Chris Holtmann had a plan.

The 43-year-old figured to spend a minimum of three years learning about life in big-time college basketball in the Big East as a member of Brandon Miller’s staff  at Butler. Coach Chris Holtmann had long admired the program from afar, and often kept an eye on how the Bulldog coaches — from Barry Collier to Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter to Brad Stevens — always squeezed the most out of their teams to enjoy sustained success, particularly through college basketball’s most important month.

Give it three years, coach Chris Holtmann told himself when he arrived in the Circle City, five at the most, and he’d be ready to get back into the crazy college basketball business of being a head coach. Somewhere. Anywhere. He’d learn from coach Brandon Miller, embrace Butler, and then pack up and move on to the next destination. Didn’t work out that way. Not. Even. Close.

Coach Chris Holtmann spent 2013-14 as Brandon Miller’s assistant while the long-proud Butler program staggered to a 4-14 league record during its first Big East season. There were losing streaks, struggles to adapt to the new league, off-court issues, player suspensions and disharmony in a program that often had sidestepped any issues that threatened to sink a particular season.

Brandon  Miller’s first campaign as head coach seemingly was doomed from the minute Brad Stevens stunned the basketball world on July 4, 2013 by announcing he would take over as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Butler never really recovered.

The loss of Roosevelt Jones, arguably the team’s most important player, to wrist surgery that August sure didn’t help. The pieces never seemed to fit as the losses far outnumbered the wins. For the first time in too long, there would be no possibility of another magical run through March, and no postseason at all for the first time since 2004.

Everything changed for coach Chris Holtmann heading into his second season as an assistant in 2014-15. For personal reasons that have never been publicly discussed, head coach Brandon Miller was granted an indefinite leave from the program on the second day of practice. Promoted to interim head coach, Chris Holtmann steered the Bulldogs to an 8-1 start. Suddenly, everything — the present, the future — seemed right and bright. The Bulldogs again played with togetherness, tore through the Big East regular season, and when Selection Sunday arrived, were back where they think they belonged: in the NCAA tournament.

The deeper the Bulldogs ventured, the clearer it became. Coach Brandon Miller would never return and Chris Holtmann would — and should — be chosen as his successor. After the season, the interim tag was tossed aside as Collier, the school’s athletic director, delivered a six-year contract to Holtmann.

Indianapolis is now home for head coach Chris Holtmann. That three-to five-year plan of moving on is history.

“I really believe in what this program is and what it’s about,” he said. “I believe in our leadership at the school and our president and our athletic director. I just have a great belief in this place.”

And the Bulldogs believe in him. That wasn’t necessarily the case early when Butler ventured to the Bahamas last November, where a first-round matchup with North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis awaited. In their first game away from home, Butler played well and won. That allowed the Bulldogs to realize that, just maybe, coach Chris Holtmann knew what he was doing. He believed in them, and after that game and that trip, they started to believe in him. This could work.

“It’s human nature for a group that you’re leading kind of in a temporary way to question what this is all going to look like and how capable is coach going to be in leading us,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Now, if we had started out 3-8, that’s trouble. That’s trouble for anybody and certainly trouble for an interim [coach] because the players’ belief gets fractured.”

Little seemed broken last season as Butler ran off  23 victories — second only to Villanova in the Big East — and finished 12-6 in the league, claiming second place. The Bulldogs advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament and came within a Pat Connaughton blocked shot of potentially beating Notre Dame before a crushing overtime loss.

Only when it was all over did coach Chris Holtmann have some time — very little time before the offseason grind arrived — to catch his breath.

“Everything last year came so fast,” he said. “It was coming at us from all directions. Last year was a whirlwind.”

It’s since settled down. Somewhat. Recruiting dominated the offseason, but the months away from the games and the travel and the practices and the daily demands that kept coach Chris Holtmann on a constant run last winter allowed him to finally exhale and embrace this career opportunity. There simply was no time to do any of that last winter.

Arriving as an assistant two summers ago, coach Chris Holtmann had a vision of where he would be several years down the road. Now entering his first full season at Butler as the permanent head coach, Chris Holtmann looks only at what’s coming later in the day, or the next morning. That’s as far as his vision reaches. There’s no other choice.

“I try not to look too far ahead to the future and really focus on doing what we can do to improve the program today,” he said. “You’re just trying to be a really good steward of a special program and a special school. With the job comes a lot of expectations with what’s been done in the past and I recognize that.”

STARTERS NOT RETURNING

G - ALEX BARLOW 

(5-11, 8.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.2 spg, 33.9 mpg, .403 FG, .373 3PT, .836 FT). 

It wasn’t so much the statistics that saw the former walk-on Alex Barlow become such a critical piece to the program’s success. He finished in the Top 10 of the Big East in only two statistical categories (steals, 2nd; 3-pointers made, 10th), but there may have been no important player in the program for what Barlow brought on a daily basis.

“It’s hard to put into words,” coach Chris Holtmann said of what Alex Barlow meant to Butler. “There were so many things.”

Topping the list was a toughness that, win or lose, home or on the road, made Alex Barlow battle from the opening jump to the nal buzzer. It’s a quality coach Chris Holtmann would love to have bottled and dispensed at the needed times this season.

“That’s at the very top of the list,” Holtmann said. “And he made shots at a really high level.”

Alex Barlow is now working for his one-time college coach — Brad Stevens — as a video assistant with the Celtics.

PF - KAMERON WOODS 

(6-9, 7.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.2 spg, 31.3 mpg, .506 FG, .659 FT). 

Seemingly too wiry and willowy to make much of an interior defensive difference during the transition to the Big East, Woods willed his way into being much more than a serviceable big man during his two seasons in the league. Last year, he led the Bulldogs and the league in rebounding and was even better in conference play, averaging 10.1 boards. He played with such a focus that every ball that bounced on the rim or o the backboard had his name on it. And then he’d often go and get it.

“Kam was one of the most versatile defensive players in the country last year,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He had a great pursuit of the ball. That was a tremendous thing for our team.”

OTHERS NOT RETURNING

G - JACKSON ALDRIDGE 

(6-0, 1.2 ppg, 5.0 mpg, .400 FG, .200 3PT, .444 FT). 

He never scored the most points or played the most minutes or was much of a concern on the other team’s scouting report, yet Aldridge remained a key cog in the Butler machine as an all-important third guard in a rotation razor-thin on perimeter depth. His free throw with four seconds remaining in overtime at Seton Hall kept Butler believing with an all-important league road win.

Replacing him isn’t as easy as simply adding someone who can scrap and claw and compete.

“He was a real steadying voice for us,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He gave us great leadership in the locker room. An unbelievable team guy who embraced that role. He was so important for us.”

PROJECTED STARTERS

PG - TYLER LEWIS

NC State, Oak Hill [Va.] Academy/ Statesville, N.C. - former NC State

5-11, 169 lbs., R-JR, #1, 

4.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 19.9 mpg, .346 FG, .234 3PT, .744 FT in 2013-14

Coach Chris Holtmann lost track of the times he’d watch his first team work against the scout squad last winter inside Hinkle Fieldhouse and wish that Lewis would have been eligible after his transfer from NC State. He was good, and sometimes, no one on the team was better.

A former McDonald’s All-American, Lewis comes along at just the right time. With Barlow walking out one door, Lewis walks in another. There’s plenty of playing time to be had in the Butler backcourt, and Lewis should transition smoothly into that spot.

A little roster roulette — i.e., transfers — the previous year left the Bulldogs without a natural point guard behind Alex Barlow. Butler needed a quick fix. Lewis can be it.

“It was just such an odd deal with how it all worked out, and thank God we were able to get Tyler,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s going to bridge that gap for us and be a really good fit. He’s going to be very important for us.”

Two seasons ago, Lewis started 18 times and led the Wolfpack in assists (135) and free-throw percentage, but his most impressive accomplishment was compiling a school single-season record 3.55-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. at included an eye-popping 4.66-1 mark in ACC games, helped out in part by an 11-assist, zero-turnover e ort against Virginia Tech.

SG - KELLEN DUNHAM - Pendleton Heights HS/Pendleton, Ind.

6-6, 200 lbs., SR, #24 

16.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.6 spg, 33.9 mpg, .429 FG, .410 3PT, .850 FT

Coach Chris Holtmann thinks he has one of the nation’s best guards, albeit one that nobody really knows or talks about, in Kellen Dunham. All the kid from up U.S. 31 did last season was lead the Bulldogs in almost every major offensive statistical category.

He was the big shot taker and maker. That’s not going to change, nor might his overall stats. And that’s OK.

“I don’t know if he can statistically make a dramatic improvement,” Holtmann said. “It’s hard to improve upon his efficiency when you’re averaging almost 17 points a game in college. That’s a lot.”

What coach Chris Holtmann said he would like to see from Kellen Dunham is an overall development in other areas. Time to diversify. Shoot higher percentages, be even better with the ball, become more of a vocal leader. It’s hard to improve on being a really solid college guard, but for Butler to be even better, Dunham has to be.

“He’s continued to improve every year,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s had an unbelievable college career to this point [and] he can continue to improve and grow overall as a player. He’s going to have a terri c pro career after he’s done.”

#21 - SF - ROOSEVELT JONES 

6-4, 225 lbs., SR, O’Fallon HS/O’Fallon, Ill.

12.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 0.9 spg, 35.5 mpg, .421 FG, .606 FT

The easiest way to describe Roosevelt Jones is that he’s there every day. Every practice. Every film session. Every huddle. Every weight-room session. Every game.

He plays an “old-man” type of game where he knows his sweet spots on the floor and knows where he has no business going — like, beyond the 3-point line. That Butler went 4-14 in the Big East without him in 2013-14 and 12-6 with him last season was no coincidence.

“He’s one of the highest-level competitors I’ve ever coached,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s a guy that understands his strengths and plays to win. Those kind of guys are special.”

With Roosevelt Jones seemingly always around the ball and around the bucket, coach Chris Holtmann said he would like Roosevelt Jones to be better at the free-throw. Jones also will continue to be one of the primary ball handlers. That means he’s also got to be better than last season’s 1.4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

“He’s certainly a key player for us,” coach Chris Holtmann said.

#4 - PF - TYLER WIDEMAN 

(6-8, 246 lbs., SO, Lake Central HS/Schererville, Ind.)

2.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 10.9 mpg, .536 FG, .415 FT, 

Playing time and a starting role are there for the taking in fall practice, and coach Chris Holtmann wouldn’t be surprised to see Tyler Wideman stake his claim for both.

Wideman started 4 games and averaged just under 11 minutes last season, but has carried himself during o season workouts like he’s ready to do more on all fronts.

“We anticipate that his minutes and his productivity will increase,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s got a good feel for things defensively, and he’s smart. Those things can really help us.”

Holtmann said he cautions anyone who thinks Tyler Wideman can step into the rebounding role relinquished by Kameron Woods to tap the brakes a bit. Wideman’s going to be good, but he’s not yet there.

“He’s different than Kam, but we do hope that he can answer some of our questions in terms of defensive rebounding,” coach Chris Holtmann said.

Wideman averaged just 1.67 defensive rebounds last season.

#45,  - C - ANDREW CHRABASCZ 

6-7, 236 lbs., JR, Cushing Academy/ Portsmouth, R.I.

11.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.6 bpg., 28.7 mpg, .446 FG, .343 3PT, .617 FT

One of the few Bulldogs who passed the Big East eye test two years ago when Butler made the transition to the league — he sure looked the part, with a sturdy frame and ability to play with a constant high motor — Andrew Chrabascz is now expected to do more, be more and play more.

His sophomore numbers were solid, though not spectacular. Coach Chris Holtmann said he would like Andrew Chrabascz to continue on the scoring path that saw him finish in the top 20 in the league. But coach Chris Holtmann also understands there’s no excuse for Andrew Chrabascz not to be among the league’s top 20 in rebounding; he wasn’t last season.

Getting in better shape to handle the Big East grind can help Chrabascz on the boards. His contributions fluctuated so much last season because there were nights where he looked like he could go long minutes, others when he could only do it in spurts. For an upperclassman, that has to change.

“He’s trying to slim down in the offseason and get himself in better tness and better conditioning, which we’ve really emphasized,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “That’s been really important for him.”

Andrew Chrabascz has the athletic versatility to bang around down low or open the floor as a stretch four. He thinks Andrew Chrabascz can shoot more 3s than the 67 he attempted last season, and be better from the free-throw line.

“He really needs to be,” Holtmann said. “It became a little bit of a mental thing for him as sometimes those things can be.”

KEY RESERVES

#5 - G - JORDAN GATHERS

6-3, 195 lbs., GS, St. Bonaventure/William Howard Taft HS/Woodland Hills, Calif.)

8.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg, 26.1 mpg, .391 FG, .360 3PT, .797 FT in 2013-14

Even as all the pieces seemed to fall into the right places last season, coach Chris Holtmann couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something missing. Something that could have meant the difference in beating Notre Dame and moving even further through the NCAA tournament. To be just as good and better this season, coach Chris Holtmann knew the Bulldogs needed to get older and better in the backcourt. Tyler Lewis rotates in for Alex Barlow at the point, but other than Kellen Dunham, the program had no seasoned veteran to turn to as the third guard.

Adding Jordan Gathers, who is immediately eligible as a graduate transfer, allows Butler to stay experienced — and possibly really, really good — on the perimeter. Gathers missed all of last season at St. Bonaventure after hip surgery in the summer of 2014. 

The nephew of former Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers, he will fill a void in the backcourt.

“That’s important,” coach Holtmann said. “We felt like we were a little thin on the perimeter last year. We really didn’t have a backup at the one or the two. To add a guy like Jordan (Gathers) is important for us. Hopefully he can give us some defensive versatility.”

Gathers can provide some offensive exibility, too. He shot .360 from 3 in 2013-14 and .375 the prior season.

“He’s been a pretty accomplished 3-point shooter during his time in college,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Hopefully he can ll some of that role.”

#30  - F - KELAN MARTIN 

6-6, 235 lbs., SO, Ballard HS/Louisville, Ky.

7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.4 apg, 14.6 mpg, .412 FG, .247 3PT, .700 FT

Kelan Martin’s coming along. Coach Chris Holtmann could see it during summer practice sessions. He could sense it when players would talk after pickup and weight-room and conditioning sessions. After being a fringe contributor as a freshman, Kelan Martin could be in line for a bust-out sophomore season. With no Kameron Woods around, there’s a rebounding void for someone to fill. Tyler Wideman might get that first chance, but Kelan Martin’s not that far behind.

“He’s worked hard this summer,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He wants to be good.”

Coach Chris Holtmann has counseled Kelan Martin to work on and worry about more than just points, shots and touches. Rebound. Screen. Run the floor. Be a good teammate. Do all that, and the points, shots and minutes will follow.

“The challenge for him is impacting games in other ways than just scoring and becoming a more efficient offensive player,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Sometimes that happens when you get a little older.”

F - AUSTIN ETHERINGTON

6-6, 220 lbs., GS, #0, 2.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.5 apg, 12.3 mpg, .382 FG, .263 3PT, .929 FT, Indiana/Hamilton Heights HS/Cicero, Ind.). 

Maybe it was arriving as a transfer from the Hoosiers that elevated the expectations for Austin Etherington. Maybe it was getting a fresh start at a school close to home. Maybe it was Butler fans wanting Austin Etherington to be a difference maker. Whatever the reason, all of it rarely came together in Austin Etherington’s first season of eligibility at Butler. But Austin Etherington, who has the size and ability to secure a role as a stretch four, still has another season.

“He’s a little more healthy than he was last year for us, which is a good thing,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “We’re excited about him.”

#13 - F - JACKSON DAVIS

6-8, 233 lbs., SO, Lafayette HS/ Lexington, Ky.

0.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 3.9 mpg, .353 FG, .333 FT

A late addition to last season’s freshman class after enjoying a monster senior year of high school that routinely saw him hit 20-20 numbers for points and rebounds, Jackson Davis spent his first year of college doing more watching than playing. That can change this season if Jackson Davis follows the coaches’ advice.

“The way he can really impact the game right now is by rebounding the ball,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “There’s a need on this team for that [and] Jackson really pursues the ball.”

If Davis does that, other aspects of his game will be better.

“He’s got to improve in some areas and he knows that,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s still relatively young.”

Same goes for fellow sophomores Martin and Tyler Wideman, though coach Chris Holtmann has hammered home the same message to all three — opportunity is knocking. Don’t be afraid to answer.

OTHER NEWCOMERS

#51 - C - NATE FOWLER

6-10, 250 lbs., FR, Moeller HS/ Cincinnati, Ohio

12.4 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.3 apg in 2013-14

Not long after Nate Fowler signed his letter of intent with Butler last fall, he suffered a broken foot that required surgery and cost him his entire senior season. By the time the Bulldogs’ opener arrives, Nate Fowler will have been out of action for nearly 18 months dating back to the end of his junior season of high school.

Moeller HS made strides through Butler’s summer conditioning program, but there remains a long road back for the program’s only true center.

“Too early to tell with Nate,” coach Chris Holtmann said.

Before Nate Fowler was injured, some recruiting analysts considered him the top center prospect in Ohio.

“Nate (Fowler) has tremendous size at all of 6-10 and 250 pounds, a terrific skill level, and he is a very cerebral player,” coach Chris Holtmann said when Nate Fowler signed last November.

#22 - G/F-SEAN MCDERMOTT

6-6, 182 lbs., FR, Pendleton Heights HS/ Pendleton, Ind.

14.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .340 3PT

Like Nate Fowler, Sean McDermott — who comes from the same high school that sent Kellen Dunham to Butler — saw his senior season in high school cut short by injury. Indiana and Purdue showed interest, but McDermott took himself out of the picture early, committing to the Bulldogs in late May of 2014.

Sean McDermott, a three-star prospect, is known for his 3-point shooting. But like Nate Fowler, McDermott will be given time to grow and develop and mature his game before being asked to offer any heavy lifting on a veteran team where playing time could be a reduced premium for the newest guys.

“Both guys had good summers, but it’s too early to tell with both right now how they might have an impact as freshmen,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “We optimistically think both guys are going to have really good careers.”

#11 - G - KETHAN SAVAGE 

6-3, 201 lbs., R-JR, George Washington/Episcopal HS/ Fairfax, Va.

11.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.3 apg

He has to sit out the coming season, but in 2016-17, when Butler has to replace both Dunham and Jones, Savage will be waiting. He spent the majority of his three seasons with the Colonials as a starter, though he came o the bench for George Washington’s final 10 games of last season.

That first season in the Big East allowed many to wonder if the “Butler Way” had lost its way with a move into big-time conference a liation. No more fattening up winning percentages in the Horizon League. No more Atlantic 10. ese were the biggest of boys of college basketball and, at least in 2013-14, it looked like Butler didn’t belong.

Last season’s 12-6 league record — only Villanova, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, was better — should have been enough to prove that 4-14 mark in 2013-14 was an aberration, but for the Bulldogs, it’s important never to forget about how fragile conference life can be. Picked in preseason to nish near the bottom of the league, Butler instead challenged for the league’s élite. But the basement is never too far away, especially in this league.

“I will say that 4-14 is still very fresh in our minds,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “We’re just a year removed from that. We have a pretty small sample size from 4-14 to 12-6.”

Coach Chris Holtmann knows how quickly everything can change for schools in power conferences. He looks at last season’s standings and sees two teams he believes had all the talent and the coaching and intangibles to be better — Creighton and Marquette — tied for last place. Both schools, Holtmann thinks, weren’t that far from nishing 12-6 themselves.

“The reality is you can have a pretty good team and really struggle in a power league,” he said. “The margin for error is really small. We recognize that the competition level is di erent on a night-in and night-out basis in league play. We have to manage that appropriately.”

That’s why all the talk that Butler is indeed back is just noise to the Bulldogs. Don’t bother bringing to Holtmann’s attention that Butler is ranked among the game’s elite heading into 2015-16. He doesn’t want to see it; he doesn’t want to hear it.

“It’s relatively irrelevant,” he said. “Most of the preseason information that’s out there is a re ection on your previous year. We embrace the fact that we have some really good returning pieces and we’re excited about what comes with that.”

Holtmann likes what he sees in the program. His program. He embraces the Butler past and is excited about the future. e Butler teams of the past were built on togetherness and toughness. We didn’t see much of it in 2013-14, but saw a whole lot of it in 2014-15. is coming season may be more of the same.

“That’s what we’re striving for, and one reason we’re so excited to be part of this program—you have so many teams and guys to model yourself after,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Hopefully, this will be a continuation of team play and a competitive approach that has personi ed the really good Butler teams throughout the decades.”

Tom Noie

STARTERS

  4 Tyler Wideman - f
21 Roosevelt Jones - f
45 Andrew Chrabascz - f
  1 Tyler Lewis - g
24 Kellen Dunham - g

RESERVES
  0 Austin Etherington
  5 Jordan Gathers
13 Jackson Davis
30 Kelan Martin