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Indianapolis Star
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Hard reset on Butler basketball roster begs question: Can Thad Matta's roster structure work?
INDIANAPOLIS — Is there a correct way to build a team in today's Big East? Butler is hoping a complete reset — in roster and culture — is the answer to returning the program back to its former glory. The addition of former Guerin Catholic forward Bryson Cardinal means the 2025-26 Butler basketball roster is full, and the Bulldogs can move from player acquisition mode to preparing for the upcoming season. Butler will head into the season with 10 new players; five freshmen and five players added in the transfer portal. Adding 10 new players seems like a lot, and maybe it would've been five years ago, but that number isn't even the highest total of coach Thad Matta's second stint back at his alma mater. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Matta's second season back at Butler, the Bulldogs add 11 new players to the roster: three freshmen, six transfers and two walk-ons, highlighting Matta's delayed approach to rebuilding his roster. Usually, a coach's first season is when a program experiences its biggest makeover. Instead, Matta added just five new players, relying on several of former coach LaVall Jordan's recruits to lead the team in his first season back on the sidelines. The results were an underwhelming 14-18 campaign, leading to the mass exodus that brought 11 new players aboard the following season. Of the 11 players brought in, three left after their first seasons (Posh Alexander, D.J. Davis and walk-on Artemios Gavalas). Juniors Finley Bizjack and Ethan McComb are the only players left from Matta's initial roster makeover. If they stay for two more years, five of the 11 players will have naturally matriculated out of the program. Is Matta happy with a 45% retention rate? Probably not. Is that the best you can expect in today's age of college basketball? The longtime coach hopes that is not the case. "When you talk retention, that was one of the biggest things: We wanted to retain that team," Matta told IndyStar. "We knew D.J. (Davis) was going to leave, Posh (Alexander) was the one who got us at the end. We hoped we could've retained that class, that would've been big for us. Every situation, every school is going to be different in their ability to (retain)." With the constant offseason movement via the transfer portal, roster retention may be a thing of the past. Xavier first-year coach Richard Pitino has undergone the biggest roster makeover in the Big East with 11 new players, just one is a freshman. First-year Villanova coach Kevin Willard is bringing in 10 new players (seven transfers, three freshmen). UConn is bringing in seven new players (three via transfer portal, plus Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins). So, what's the key to retaining players? The answer appears to be developing a program where players put the team before themselves. He said it: What Thad Matta said about Butler's additions via transfer portal, recruiting Bizjak and McComb, the longest tenured Bulldogs on the roster, speak about returning to "The Butler Way," holding each other accountable and rebuilding a winning culture. It takes time to build a solid foundation and with summer workouts beginning Monday, the Dawgs are hoping to establish a new standard. "We made a list of things that we want to enforce every day, that way we can really accomplish what we set out to accomplish and that's win a Big East championship and make it back to the (NCAA) tournament," McComb said. "There's a lot of little, tiny details that we believe we add to creating a culture that we may have lost over the last couple years as a program. We have the right pieces in place and the right guys here. We're all on the same agenda — team over self — to get that done. I think it's going to go a long way for us because we can already see those improvements, even after Day 1." Marquette coach Shaka Smart has built a culture of winning where freshmen are willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the program. Under Matta, Butler has not. Relying on freshmen is extremely risky. Butler has already been burned once, with Colt Langdon coming in, redshirting and leaving before ever playing a game. Finding freshmen willing to wait patiently for their time to play is likely another relic from the past. Cardinal's willingness to redshirt makes him one of the rare exceptions. McComb stayed for two years as a walk-on before getting rewarded with a scholarship. Can Butler find playing time for its four other highly rated freshmen? Are Butler's freshmen the type of players content with not receiving steady rotation minutes early in the season? As blasphemous as it sounds, Butler has to find a way to be more like Marquette and it starts on the recruiting trail. "To me fit is still vitally important," Matta said. "How I do things at Butler, how Butler University operates is still very, very important. We're trying to find guys who have an edge, we want to work, who love the game of basketball. Then we've got to do the best we can do to make them better." Tracking the player movement in the Big East can make your head spin, but there are three plans of action taking place. Marquette is the only school taking an old-school approach of bringing in freshmen and developing them over the course of their careers. The Golden Eagles did not add a single player through the transfer portal this offseason. Others are trying to rebuild rapidly by bringing in experienced transfers. Other schools, like Butler, are taking the hardest route, trying to thread the needle by bringing in experienced players and freshmen simultaneously and letting the rotation work itself over the course of the season. Of the schools also bringing in a significant number of freshmen, none make for a good comparison with Butler. UConn recruits from a different pool than Butler. Its freshmen like five-stars Mullins and Liam McNeeley before him, are expected to come in and be immediate impact players.
Indianapolis Star
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Write this down: Guerin Catholic sophomore Amelia Smith is a state contender in pole vault
Be confident. Control the controllables. Choose to make changes. These words, repeated in Amelia Smith's head at different points during her competition in every track meet, are written in her journal entry for March 29. That day, the Guerin Catholic sophomore won the state indoor meet with a pole vault of 13 feet, 3 inches. That jump is marked in her journal, too, with this feedback to herself: 'Whoa keep it.' Journaling takes on a different context for Smith, who meticulously keeps notes at all of her meets, jotting down thoughts to herself to review later – and during – her competition. 'When she turns in her journal to the coaches, she always gets an 'A' or 'A-plus,'' Guerin Catholic pole vault and high jump coach Kevin Horrigan joked. Putting pen to paper works for Smith. Her pole vault at the Hoosier State Relays on that day in March is the sixth-best performance – indoor or outdoor – in Indiana girls' high school history. Smith's mark of 12-6 at last week's sectional meet at Hamilton Southeastern is the second-best during the outdoor season behind only Franklin junior Addison Martin's 13-0 mark in the sectional meet last week. If you flip through the pages of Smith's pole vault journal, you will find her entries are not limited to meets. She records every practice attempt, too. Some portions read as motivation to herself, while others note the details: bar height, pole size, where her steps are, her grip on the pole. Then, of course, whether or not the attempt is successful. 'It helps me stay consistent during the meets,' Smith said. '(During the sectional meet) I moved back to get a different run. I went from eight steps to 10 steps in the middle of the meet. I was just kind of able to look at stuff from the past and say, 'My steps are usually here.'' Smith, a competitive gymnast until she was 13, takes the journal home after meets to review. She got the idea from a former pole vaulter she follows on Instagram, Shawn Francis. Francis, now a pole vault coach, wrote a book called 'The Pole Vault Toolbox.' Part of his philosophy for pole vaulters, especially those just starting out, is to write down the details of every attempt. 'I got a journal last year and started writing stuff down,' Smith said. 'It helps especially at the end of the season when we start to go back to basics to remember what pole I was on and where my steps were at and everything.' Writing everything down helps Smith 'control the controllables.' While her goal is to reach the qualifying standard for the USA Track and Field U20 outdoor championships (13-7 ¼), there are some days when the weather conditions make those goals impossible. 'If you have a bad day in pole vault, it's a bad day,' Smith said. 'There's only so much you can do. You can't control the wind. Obviously, I was a little frustrated with that (during the sectional meet). It's something I just kind of have to push off to the side and say, 'My training is worked into this' and do the best you can.' Horrigan said pole vaulting can be a bit like 'riding a roller coaster.' But the veteran coach said Smith's ability to absorb what she has learned and put it to use is invaluable. 'She can process almost anything instantaneously,' Horrigan said. 'Her work ethic is unbelievable and she's strong and fast. In this event, there are so many things that go into it that all those little components are so important. She's a student of the pole vault and an absolute joy to coach. I'm fortunate to be able to work with her.' Horrigan said the close-knit pole vault community 'can help lift each other up on a bad day.' Smith is close with several of her top competitors in the event. 'They are all in the same boat,' Horrigan said. 'They know what it's like to have a bad day. The all know exactly what each other is going through.' In Smith's case, she is more focused on the process than the end goal of winning a state championship. '(Winning state) is definitely something I've thought about but I don't want to focus on it too much,' she said. 'Because if I let the season play out how it's supposed to, then it's going to work out.' If she wins or not, Smith will have the story written. Just check the journal. The first, second and third place regional winners in all individual events and relays advance to the state meet, along with any individual or relay team meeting the three-participant standard in the regional finals of their event. >>>Ben Davis and Lawrence Central will host regional meets with the qualifiers from the Hamilton Southeastern going north to Lafayette Jeff. That includes top-ranked Carmel and No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern. Carmel won the sectional last week with 171.5 points to 138.5 for second-place HSE. >>>Heritage Christian senior standout Kya Crooke will compete in the regional at Lawrence Central. Crooke has the top time there in the regional in the 100 (12.35 seconds) and is the defending state champion in the high jump and former champion in the long jump (19-3 in the sectional). Warren Central's Kira Smith could give her some competition in the high jump at Lawrence Central, ranking third in the state this spring. >>>The 3,200 at Lawrence Central could be an interesting race. Bishop Chatard's Julia Score and Pendleton Heights' Ava Jarrell are in the field. Lucy Wood of Brebeuf Jesuit and Kelsey Rehmel of North Central could also contend. The 1,600 with Pendleton Heights' freshman Anya Zoeller and Franklin Central's Savana Miller could also be interesting. >>>Brownsburg's No. 1 4x100 relay team will be tested by Pike and Terre Haute South in the regional at Ben Davis. The Bulldogs also have the top 4x400 relay team in the regional and one of the best in the state. >>>Three of the state's best 400 runners – Omema Anyanwu of Zionsville, Amiah Rhodes of Ben Davis and Kylee Regalado of Tri-West – will compete at Ben Davis. The 100 and 300 hurdles will also be competitive with Pike's Jai Brown and Franklin's Aubrey Runyon the top contenders in the 100 hurdles and Brownsburg's Sophia N'Gbesso potentially the favorite in the 300 hurdles.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vote for IndyStar Student of the Week for March 17- 21
Each week readers vote on central Indiana students who were nominated by their schools for their excellence in the classroom and beyond. Readers can vote for their favorite student throughout the week at the bottom of this story, with polling closing at noon on Thursday, March 20. The winner is announced Friday. This contest aims to introduce readers not just to the student who winds up winning but to all of the highly accomplished nominees. Here's what nominating school leaders had to say about this week's nominees: More Ed News to know: Trump wants to dismantle the Education Dept. Here's what that means for Indiana schools Recent Ed News: DOE warns IU, other campuses of 'potential enforcement actions' in civil rights investigations All of Eduar's hard work is paying off. He recently passed the CompTIA IT Fundamentals certification, has been hired by IPS to repair student Chromebooks (he has repaired over 400), and has been accepted to Purdue, his university of choice. Eduar is a great all around student. Lydia is the type of student every teacher wants to have in class. She is always prepared, always ready to participate, has high integrity, and is highly trustworthy. She is a great example of what it means to be a Flash! Jaymee Williams is a standout both in and out of the classroom. A leader on the lacrosse and soccer teams, Jaymee's dedication extends beyond the field as a volunteer at her church and a skilled video producer, managing social media content for her church and contributing to the school's student-led TV broadcast. Known for her reliability and maturity, she plays a key role as a counseling assistant, always the first to lend a hand. On track to earn an academic honors diploma, Jaymee has tackled AP and dual credit courses with plans to pursue computer science in college. Her hard work and leadership make her a deserving Indy Star Student of the Week! Will's kindness has been a tremendous asset to Campus Ministry. He stepped up as a leader for both NestFest and the Junior Retreat, offering guidance and support with a positive attitude. His ability to connect with others and lead with compassion makes him a natural role model for his peers. Will consistently embodies the values of service and faith, contributing greatly to the mission at Guerin Catholic. His dedication and selflessness have made a lasting impact on the Guerin Catholic campus community. Melina raised her required math course bar by jumping up from regular Geometry to Honors Geometry and has been impressive, daily! She also lifts others around her with her motivational words, methods for studying, time management, and demonstrating wonderfully what hard work looks like to other students. Garrett Green is a dedicated student-athlete, he participates in soccer, football, and band, demonstrating strong leadership and teamwork. His ability to balance academics with extracurricular activities showcases his determination and discipline. Garrett is known for his positive attitude, perseverance, and willingness to support those around him. Whether on the field, in the classroom, or playing music, he brings energy and commitment to everything he does. His leadership and dedication make him a deserving nominee, as he continues to inspire and uplift his peers at Tindley. Addie Dean has a 3.83 G.P.A. She is President of both F.F.A. and Interact. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, Key Club, Sources of Strength, and Red and Blue Crew. Addie letters in Varsity Tennis and M.H.S. Cheer, and she recently won 1st Place in the Martinsville Rotary Club Speech Contest. She also participates in Summer and Winter Cheer Clinics and shows swine and cattle as a member of Morgan County 4-H. Sophia Beeson is a four-year member of the Cathedral tennis team and was recently named District Student of the Year at the Indiana Speech and Debate Competition. She is a ten-year member of 4-H and has won four Indiana State Fair championships in Public Speaking. Sophia has a 4.49 grade point average. Roncalli English teacher Cassie McGill nominates Ruth due to the fact that "Ruth is always willing to seek and apply constructive criticism, seeks excellence, and is ever positive. She is much appreciated!" Mrs. McGill also cites a high degree of participation and keen and insightful participation in classroom discussions. Keep up with school news: Sign up for Study Hall, IndyStar's free weekly education newsletter. Contact IndyStar K-12 education reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@ Follow her on Twitter (X): @CarolineB_Indy. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Vote for IndyStar Student of the Week for March 17- 21
