Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Building each program’s Mount Rushmore

By Brian Foley

KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KEYSTONE, SD - OCTOBER 01: Mount Rushmore National Memorial towers over the South Dakota landscape on October 1, 2013 near Keystone, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all other national parks were closed today after congress failed to pass a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job. A bulletin issued by the Department of Interior states, 'Effective immediately upon a lapse in appropriations, the National Park Service will take all necessary steps to close and secure national park facilities and grounds in order to suspend all activities ...Day use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately...' (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS – APRIL 05: Gordon Hayward
INDIANAPOLIS – APRIL 05: Gordon Hayward /

Mount Bulldog

Butler History: 2 Final Fours, 4 Sweet 16’s

F Gordon Hayward (2008-10)
Stats: 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals

In just two years with the Bulldogs, Hayward racked up a Horizon League Player of the Year award, an NCAA All-Tournament team honor, and came inches away from winning Butler’s first national championship. Hayward was named to the Western Conference NBA All-Star team in 2017 and inked a four-year deal worth nearly $128 million with Boston last summer. He is one of the rocks on which Butler has built its basketball success.

F Matt Howard (2007-11)
Stats: 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.9 blocks

An immediate contributor from day one, Howard was named the Horizon League Player of the Year as a sophomore, and then made back-to-back trips to the National Championship game in 2010 and 2011. Maybe Howard’s most memorable play was drawing a foul with less than a second remaining on the clock to knock off top-seeded Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

F Kelan Martin (2014-18)
Stats: 15.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists

Martin was an impact player for Butler, earning first-team all-Big East honors as a senior and second-team honors as a sophomore and junior. Martin’s Bulldogs also won an NCAA Tournament game in each of his four seasons and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2017. No. 30 was instrumental in guiding Butler into a new era with the Big East and without Brad Stevens. He did not drum up a ton of national attention, but he clearly carried the burden for the Bulldogs offensively, especially as a senior.

HC Brad Stevens (2007-13)
Record: 166-49 (.772 winning percentage), 5 NCAA Tournament appearances

Before jumping to the NBA and eventually teaming up with Hayward in Boston, Stevens was one of the five best coaches in college basketball. Now, he is still just 41 years old, and he is one of the five best coaches in the NBA. Stevens stewarded Butler to two Final Fours, five NCAA Tournament appearances, and four Horizon League titles in six seasons.

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