Latest news with #TheButlerWay
Indianapolis Star
10 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
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Indianapolis Star
How teaching himself a 'life lesson' took this Butler basketball lifer to a new role
INDIANAPOLIS — When junior guard Ethan McComb got a text from Butler basketball coach Thad Matta summoning him to his office, he didn't know what the meeting was about. He knew he didn't do anything wrong, but when he arrived and the entire coaching staff was there, his confusion remained. Luckily for the Center Grove grad, Matta and his staff didn't leave McComb hanging in suspense for long. "They told me they wanted to bump me up to scholarship for this coming year," McComb said. "It was a big surprise, and it was really special having them all in there. "I was a little nervous, but I could tell from the vibe in the room it wasn't anything bad before they even said anything." McComb played for former Butler guard Zach Hahn at Center Grove. McComb helped the Trojans go 22-3 during his senior season, averaging 7.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 47% from 3. He had opportunities to play at the NAIA level after high school, but once the chance to join Butler arose, he knew he couldn't pass it up. McComb's mother, Jenni, is a Butler alumnus. The McCombs are Butler season ticket holders and Ethan grew up going to Butler basketball camps. Life as a walk-on isn't glamorous, but McComb was willing to make the sacrifices necessary to a part of the program. "I look at it as a life lesson," McComb said of being a walk-on. "Putting the team above myself. Anyone can do that for a day or a week or two, but over the course of a season or multiple seasons, coming in every single day knowing that your number may not get called, but what you do every day has an impact on winning. "You can make a great impact on all your teammates every day by showing up with a great attitude and effort, communicating and doing all the little things like that." McComb joined Butler as a preferred walk-on for the 2023-24 season. The 6-foot-1 guard played in 13 games over the last two seasons, scoring 13 points. Heading into his third year with the Bulldogs, McComb and fellow junior Finley Bizjack are the longest tenured players on the roster. McComb becomes Butler's 14th scholarship player. Former walk-on Connor O'Guinn is no longer with the program, meaning Butler will go into next season with 14 players. In McComb, Butler has a reliable shooter and a guard who operates like a coach on the floor because he hopes to make a career in coaching after his playing days are over. "It shows that they value you as a contributor to the team," Hahn said. "Sometimes we forget that the most important people are the people who make it feel like a team. Ethan definitely instills those values. I know he follows 'The Butler Way' to a tee, and he grew up wanting to play there. ... And I'm sure the coaches can count on him for anything that they need. "His IQ is one of his best attributes. Even from a young age he's a great leader by example. He's turned into a very vocal leader and those characteristics carry over nicely into being a head coach." McComb knows the team must come together quickly as 10 incoming players work to integrate themselves into Matta's system. With one day of practice under their belts, McComb is already seeing a return to The Butler Way.
