(10-12-2013 09:04 AM)Roader Wrote: Sure butler success in the past is better but the BE (and every other conference) has to look at the future. Could Shaka leave and VCu fall apart yes. Will it happened with butler since Stevens left, maybe. Im just looking strictly at now and the next 5 years. I know what they both did the last 5 and butler blows most of NCAA teams out of the water but there near future i don't think will have the upside VCu has. I don't want this to turn into a pissing match about VCu, its just my opinion and i respectively disagree with yours.
Im glad you didn't take them as its a good game for ud if they can win
I respect your opinion and you may be right. I'll just explain further the way I look at it.
Butler's success has come over a series of 4 different coaches:
1. Barry Collier (1989-2000), now the AD, rejuvenated the program, getting them to 3 Horizon runner-up finishes and 2 NITs in the early '90's before leading them to 2 Horizon championships, 3 NCAA tournaments and a third NIT in the late '90's.
2. Thad Matta (2000-01), current Ohio State coach, got them another Horizon title and their first NCAA tournament win in their current era.
3. Todd Licliter (2001-07), named national Coach of the Year at Butler before leaving for Iowa, got them 3 more Horizon titles and 2 Sweet16's, a first in the current era.
4. Brad Stevens (2007-13) won 4 Horizon titles, got them to 5 NCAA tournaments and had 2 runs to the national championship game.
Clearly Butler has made a series of good coaching hires with each new coach building on what his predecessor(s) had done and advancing the program to a new level. The way I look at it, the Butler was not a Stevens creation and their success has not been just about him. Now maybe Brandon Miller will not work out. Anything is possible.
The way I look at it, Butler is the more established program because they have not must been hot for the past 5 years. They've gone to 11 NCAA tournaments over the past 17 years and 4 Sweet 16's over the past 11 including their 2 runs to the championship game, winning a total of 17 games in those NCAA appearances. If it didn't say "Butler" on their jerseys, no one would question that kind of track record.
Having said all of that, I agree with you that VCU is an outstanding program in its own right, and they are not just about Shaka either having made it to the tournament in each of the last 4 decades, beginning in 1980. They are the hot program right now, not just in terms of success on the court, and not just with a top coach, but also with successful recruiting and investments in infrastructure. Their addition to the Big East should be a no brainer.