Young coach gives Butler a good shot

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As the Butler Bulldogs were entering the BJCC Arena on Thursday afternoon for their shoot-around, a security guard stopped senior point guard A.J. Graves, pointed at first-year coach Brad Stevens and asked, “Is that your coach? He looks like a player.”

And the 31-year-old Stevens does still look much more like one of his squeaky-clean Bulldogs than their coach. He has their same 1950s short hair, their eagle eyes, their slim build.

He even gets into a few shooting contests with his players, no doubt calling on his stellar playing career at DePauw University in Sewanee’s league.

“All that helps the relationship we have with him,” Graves said Friday after Butler did in South Alabama 81-61 to set up an East Regional second-round game Sunday against Tennessee.

“It’s a relaxed atmosphere. I think it’s easier to trust him because it wasn’t so long ago that he was playing college ball, just the way we are now. But you don’t want to get in a shooting game with him. Coach can really shoot the basketball.”

Shooting the basketball is presumably in the Bulldogs’ blood. After all, nine of the team’s 15 roster players and three of its five starters hail from the Hoosier State. So does super sub Pete Campbell, who scored a game-high 26 against the Jaguars.

“Pete’s our best shooter,” Graves said. “That’s the plain and simple truth. I don’t think Pete’s shots hit the rim, actually.”

But it may have been Stevens’ offense that helped free Campbell for many of his eight 3-pointers in 10 attempts.

“Coach said going into the postseason for me to be ready to run a few things we haven’t run in awhile,” Campbell said. “So it’s not necessarily anything that special we tried to do. It was just be ready, run the offense; if you have your opportunities, look for them; if not, keep moving it around and just get the best shot you can.”

Stevens got the shot of a lifetime last spring when Steve Alford left Iowa for New Mexico. The Hawkeyes quickly turned to then-Butler coach Todd Lickliter, which opened the way for the Bulldogs to promote Stevens, who had been on the BU staff since 2001.

In a somewhat related development, had Alford not left Iowa and had Lickliter not graciously signed the release for Tyler Smith to transfer, Tennessee likely would not have had Smith’s services this season.

Either way, Stevens is the fourth youngest coach in Divison I, trailing only Maryland-Eastern Shore’s Meredith Smith (27), Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne’s Dane Fife (28) and New Orleans’ Joe Pasternack (30).

Not that the married father of one acted young when asked about preparing for the Volunteers.

“I have the utmost respect for Coach (Bruce) Pearl,” he said. “I think his team is fabulous.”

Luckily for Tennessee, Stevens can’t challenge Pearl to a shooting game to reach the Sweet 16.