Hoosier

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #9 seed Seton Hall, 13-15, 6-12, in the 1st round.

3/10: 74-62. 28 for Gard, 22 for Rapu. 14 RBs for Mury. +12 TOs. In charge all the way.

#5 seed Villanova, 18-13, 9-9, in the semis. We each won on the other team’s court.

3/11: 76-58. 15, 15 for Mury, 17, 8 for PF Norm Brax. +28 RBs. Great D!

It’s #2 seed, #14 ranked Georgetown, 25-6, 13-5, for the title. They beat us both times in the regular season, and they’re a 3 ½ point favorite to do it again. We need to be on top of our game.

3/12: 74-88. I guess they’re just better than we are, much better outside. 22, 13 for Mury. They beat us outside with 15 threes.

26-6, 14-4, #13, RPI #10. We’re hoping for a #2 seed, but it will likely be a 3.

#4 South. That’s a rip off. We play #13 Southern Miss, 21-10.

3/17: 71-54. 19, 16 for Mury, 14 each for Brax and Will. +15 RBs. We won it inside.

#5 seed, #20 ranked Memphis, 23-8, in round 2. We need to control their outside game.

3/19: 71-68. We led by 27 at the half, and then fell asleep. A three at the buzzer made it look closer than it really was, but we were just awful in the 2nd. Our bench got us through, 18 for SF Tav Mald, 11 for #3 guard Nick Ashe. Mury had 12 and 15. +17 RBs, but -10 TOs. We’ll take it! On to my first Sweet Sixteen.

We play #1 seed, #3 ranked Maryland, 30-5. We’ll need to be at our very best to have a chance.

3/24: 55-80. They really outplayed us. 22 TOs.

We’re losing Wade Mury, which will hurt, but not anyone else who plays much.

4/3: #1 UConn won the title.

4/4: Awards: Wade Mury is my 1st 2nd team All American. In Conf., Mury is POY and 1st team along with Norm Brax. Sera Rapu makes 2nd team.

4/9: We’re staying, but trying to move to a tougher conference.

4/23: I ask for money. No.

28-7, 14-4, Sweet Sixteen. Overall, 113-46, .711.

[Wayne23]

5/1: The usual reports.

6/5: 2 decent guards transfer out.

6/12: We got a C from ‘Nova who looks really good.

6/26: 3 scholarships. 2 and 1, probably 2 guards, but maybe not.

8/21: We offer to a PG, a PF, a C.

9/18: Got a C, #38.

Vegas Winter Jam vs. New Mexico ST.

9/25: Got a PF, #33. Lost a PG.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked 3rd in the Big East.

11/6: Red Lucas, Indy Times: After their two exhibition games I’m wondering if the Butler Bulldogs might be not quite as good as they were last season. Coach Joe Indy may work his magic, as he seems to do every year, but the Bulldogs seem a little weak on D, especially in the backcourt. We’ll see. Here’s the lineup, at least for now:

Soph Earl Gard is at PG, backed by junior Lon Jonn.

Junior Sera Rapu is at SG, with junior Nick Ashe backing him.

Juco junior Jed eddy starts at SF, subs at PF. Junior Norm Brax and frosh Jan Leep sub at SF.

Senior Carl Will starts at PF, subs at C. Frosh Mike Fine is at C. The team seems solid up front.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. Frosh Mike Fine had 25 and 22 in our 2nd game!

12/4: We beat #10 Utah but lost to a very good Pitt team by 4. All in all we’re playing decent ball. Fine is getting 17.2, 10.8.

12/14: 6-1 headed to the Vegas Jam. We’re the #4 seed and we play #5 New Mexico ST, 4-5.

12/16: 78-76. 22 for Rapu, including the winner. We almost blew a 19 point lead. Too many 2nd half TOs (11).

#1 seed, #16 ranked conf. rival Georgetown, 7-1. Tough team.

12/17: 73-71. 18 lead changes, 11 ties, never more than a 6 point margin. Mike Fine made an old fashioned three point play with
1.2 left, and they never got a shot off. 19, 15 for Fine, 14, 17 for PF Carl Will, 18 for Rapu. +13 RBs.

#2 seed, #13 ranked Stanford, 8-1, for the title.

12/18: 57-73. Ouch! 28 for Rapu, but no one else had more than 7. Poor shooting (32.3%), and the refs didn’t help- but the refs didn’t beat us, either.

12/25: 9-2, RPI #41, going to conf. play. +7.8 PPG, +7.6 RBs, +1.8 TOs.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2024: 11-2, 2-0, RPI #32.

1/8: Red Lucas, Indy Times: Remember that pre-season prediction about Butler not being as good this year? Yeah. 13-2, 4-0, #24, RPI #28, 1st in conf., just beat #14 Georgetown on the road. This is why I don’t gamble!

1/15: 15-2, 6-0, #22, RPI #24. 1 up on 2 teams, 3 or more on the rest.

1/29: 18-3, 9-1, #22, RPI #25. Alone in 1st, 1 up on Creighton, 2 on ST John’s. Everyone else is out of it. +10.0 PPG, +8.0 RBs, +1.7 TOs.

2/12: 22-3, 13-1, #17, RPI #18. 1 up on #17 Creighton, but we play both them and 3rd place ST John’s still.

2/26: We end the regular season 24-5, 15-3, #17, RPI #21, alone in 1st, due to Creighton getting upset early last week. +7.4 PPG, +8.2 RBs, +0.5 TOs.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #8 seed Seton Hall, 13-15, 8-10, in the quarter finals.

3/10: 89-65. Never a game. 30 for Rapu, 17, 13 for Will, 16, 12 for SF Jed Eddy. +21 RBs.

#5 seed Georgetown, 18-11, 9-9, in the semis. We’ve beaten them 3 times this season.

3/11: 81-75. All 5 starters had 10 or more. Will led us with 18 and 9. 19 TOs though.

#3 seed, #23 ranked ST John’s, 22-7, 13-5, for the title. We crushed them at home, they crushed us there. Hard to predict this one.

3/12: 76-72. 21 lead changes, 7 ties. Tourney MOP Carl Will led us with 19 and 11, but all 5 starters had 10 or more. +16 RBs, and that was huge. They had 15 threes, but none in the last two minutes, when we really dug deep.

27-5, 15-3, and the title. #16, RPI #18. 4 seed? 5?

#4 Midwest. We play #13 GA Southern.

3/16: 86-64. 31, 14 for Fine, 19, 6, 5 for Rapu. +13 Rbs.

#12 seed BYU, 23-10, won in an upset. They’re next.

3/18: 85-74. And again, aal 5 starters score 10 or more. 23, 3, 5 for Gard. BUT… 23 TOs. +18 RBs.

#1 seed, #1 ranked, UConn, 32-0, in the Sweet Sixteen. Best team I’ve faced as a head coach.

3/23: 51-76. Men against boys.

4/3: #1 UConn is the champ!

4/4: Awards: Frosh Mike Finn was Big East POY, Frosh OY, 1st team. Junior Sera Rapu and senior Carl Will made 2nd team. I was named COY.

4/9: Probably only one team in the state I’d go to, and that’s Indiana U. No.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. Got $11,000.

29-6, 15-3, Sweet Sixteen. Overall, 142-52, .732.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We move to the AAC.

Midwest gold, national basic.

#16 pre-season.

6/5: Our potentially best player transfers out.

6/26: 7 scholarships. Probably 3 guards.

8/7: PF/C Mike Fine is #50 on the Norton list.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, an SF, 2 PFs, and a C.

9/18: We get an SF, #27.

Mem Tourney vs. USC.

9/25: We get three: a PG, #34, a PF, #39, a PG, #42.

10/2: We get a C, #35, and a PG, #36.

1st day of practice. We’re picked 3rd in the AAC.

We may bank the 7th scholarship.

11/6: 8 man rotation:

Seniors Nick Ashe (PG) and Sera Rapu (SG) start at guard, with another senior Lon Jonn subbing.

Soph Mike Fine starts at SF, subs at PF. Seniors Norm Brax and Jed Eddy sub at SF.

Frosh Dan Bell starts at PF, subs at C. Soph Den Rigg is at C. He’s a transfer from Villanova.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start.

All 6 recruits sign.

Heading for the Mem Tourney where we’re the #3 seed. We play #6 USC, 2-0.

11/21: 79-63. 30, 9 for C Den Rigg, 18 for PG Nick Ashe. +13 RBs.

#2 seed, #13 ranked UMass, 3-0, in the semis.

11/22: 94-78. We were a scoring machine! 20 each for Ashe and SF Mike Fine. 14, 8, 4 for 6th man Norm Brax. Only 4 TOs.

#1 seed, #24 ranked Ohio ST for the title. On paper, UMass is a better team. We’ll see.

11/23: 85-70 and the title. 20 for sub Norm Brax, 15 for Rapu, 14 for Ashe.

11/27: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The Butler Bulldogs are howling! 6-0, #10, RPI #6, beat 2 ranked teams in the Mem Tourney- and won it! The guards are doing the scoring, 16.2 for Nick Ashe, and 14.0 for Sera Rapu. 6 players average 9.0 or better. The team is rebounding and taking care of the ball. Looking good!

12/25: 10-1, #21, RPI #10. We lost a road game by 2, won the rest. +12.9 PPG, +8.8 RBs, +1.4 TOs. Our starters average between 15.3 and 10.3.

[Wayne23]

1/8/2025: 12-2, 2-1. We got beat up at Tulane. Not a good night. #25, RPI #15.

1/22: 15-4, 5-3, #23, RPI #14. Alone in 4th, 1 back of 1st.

1/29: 17-5, 7-4, #21, RPI #20. Tied for 3rd. +9.2 PPG, +6.8 RBs, +1.4 TOs. We’re playing well in a tougher conference. Starters average from 16.0 (Rigg) to 9.2. 6th man Brax gets 7.3.

2/12: 20-5, 10-4, #19, RPI #18. We beat 1st place Memphis by 1 at our place, and we’re even in the loss column with 3 other teams at the top of the AAC.

2/26: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The amazing Butler Bulldogs end the regular season in 1st place in their new conference, the AAC.

They end up 24-5, 14-4, #10, RPI #7. +10.4 PPG, +7.4 RBs, +1.5 TOs. Balanced scoring and good D. Coach Indy’s middle name is “Winner!”

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #8 seed Tulane, 12-16, 7-11, in the quarters.

3/10: 78-76. We escaped, coming back from down 14 with 11:17 to play. Rigg (26, 7) and Rapu (27, 3, 5) both got hot down the stretch. +11 RBs.

#4 seed Memphis, 19-10, 12-6, in the semis. They are a 1 ½ point favorite. Looks like a tough game.

3/11: 84-87. Their SG had 36. We couldn’t stop him. The three blind mice were calling everything. The fouls were about even but it destroyed the flow of the game. They didn’t beat us, but they were awful.

25-6, 14-4, #11, RPI #10. 3 seed?

3/12: #2 South! We play Cal ST Bakersfield.

3/17: 81-59. Up by as many as 31. 18, 8 for Rigg, 15, 9, 3 for Ashe, 14, 9 for Fine, 12, 5, 7 for Rapu. +21 RBs.

#7 seed Montana ST, 28-5, in the 2nd round. They look good, but they haven’t played anybody.

3/19: 85-65. Never close. 27, 4, 5 for Ashe, 23, 3, 7 for Rapu. +14 RBs, 11 TOs.

Sweet Sixteen vs. #3 seed, #15 ranked Syracuse, 20-9. They can score from outside and inside, and their C is world class. We need to be at our very best. We’re a 2.5 point underdog.

3/24: 80-85. They scored the first 7 points and we never quite caught up. Twice we were down 2 with the ball, but couldn’t make the key basket. My guys played hard and never quit. 32 for Ashe, 24 for Rapu. 18 TOs hurt, and we were outscored inside big time.

We’re losing both our starting guards and our 6th, 7th, and 8th men.

4/3: #1 UConn beat Syracuse for the title.

4/4: Awards: Center Dan Bell is AAC Frosh OY. Soph C Den Rigg made 1st team, and soph Mike Fine made 2nd. I was named Conf. COY.

4/23: I ask for $. Surprised but happy to report that I got $11,500!

27-7, Sweet Sixteen. Overall, 169-59, .741.

To move again or not to move again… Probably best to stay in the AAC another year.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We move to the Big 12.

And 3 guys transfer out. Only one got actual minutes, or was likely to.

6/5: Looking at transfers.

6/12: No luck.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We’d like to go 3 and 2 either way.

8/7: PG Ian Hugh is #45, and PG Nick Feel is #48 on the Norton list.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, 2 SFs, and a PF.

9/18: Got 2, lost 2. Got a PF, #25, a PG, #43.

Mem Tourney vs. Troy.

9/25: Lost 2.

10/2: Lost 1 more.

1st day of practice. Picked 2nd in the Big 12. I’d be delighted with that!

10/30: No luck at all with recruiting. Got 2 good ones, but it doesn’t look like we’ll fill the other three.

11/6: 9 man rotation:

Frosh Ian Hugh (PG) and Nick Feel (SG) start. Our only senior, Earl Gard subs at PG. Frosh Al Walt subs at SG.

Frosh Dal Deck starts at SF. Frosh Marc Jora subs at SF and PF.

Junior Mike Fine starts at OF, subs at C. Frosh Mick Hunt subs at PF.

Junior Den Rigg is at C.

I really like this team!