Butler Smart In Hiring Brandon Miller To Replace Brad Stevens

Brandon Miller now has the difficult task of replacing Brad Stevens at Butler. (wishtv.com)

Brad Stevens was going to be at Butler for a long time. That's what everyone thought.

Rumors said maybe he would replace Coach K at Duke. But the NBA? That wasn't on anyone's radar but Stevens.

Butler will no longer have its baby-faced head coach, but he left the program in better shape than it had ever been. Back-to-back national championship game appearances, top-10 national rankings, NBA prospects and national attention that rivaled in-state opponent Indiana the past five years. Most importantly, Stevens proved the two title games were not a fluke as the Bulldogs have remained relevant several years after.

Now Butler must move forward without Stevens. It had to happen some time, and at least the transition is coming when the Butler name resonates strongly. The university made its first smart move in continuing success by hiring former Butler player and assistant coach (since April) Brandon Miller.

No one has a crystal ball. Maybe he won't bring the knowledge, communication skills and charisma that Stevens did, but he knows the program as well as anyone, and that is important for building on Stevens' success. Butler was not going to land a major, established name because as strong as Stevens built the program, Butler is still a mid-major team.

Butler Athletic Director Barry Collier has faith in Miller, saying in a statement, "As a player, assistant coach, and person, Brandon has exemplified the Butler Way and brings a blend of energy, talent and integrity to this role. With Brandon's leadership, Butler is well positioned to expand upon the success of the last few years."

Miller knows firsthand what it takes to win at a small program. He was a senior on the 2003 Bulldogs team that advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since the school's first-ever tournament appearance 41 years earlier. Since then, Miller was an assistant coach for a season at Butler in 2007, while also learning as an assistant for Thad Matta at Ohio State (a former Butler coach) and John Groce at Illinois last season.

As important as the hire was the timing. August begins a busy recruiting period, and with Butler moving to the Big East this year, the Bulldogs couldn't afford entering recruitment without being able to tell players who would lead them. Now the program has a coach who can walk into a recruit's home and talk about the benefits of Butler from personal experience.

Miller has giant shoes to fill left by Stevens and a heavy weight on his shoulders to continue this run of success. We will have to wait before determining if the hire was a success, but for now giving the keys to the Butler car to someone who knows and understands the program from a player and coach's prospective was the right move.

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UCLA/Minnesota Fire Coaches; Shaka Smart To LA?

Ben Howland is out as UCLA's head coach. Who will replace him in LA? (espn.com)

UCLA and Minnesota have more in common than just meeting in the round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins and Gophers fired their respective head coaches, Ben Howland and Tubby Smith, within 24 hours of each other Sunday and Monday.

Howland was with the program for 10 years, reaching three straight Final Fours from 2006-2008, but the final five years have been filled with disappointment and scandal. Smith finished his sixth season and while he won his first NCAA Tournament game with the Gophers (against the Bruins), Smith had a 124-81 overall record and a 46-62 record in the Big 10.

Neither of these moves caught people by total surprise. Questions around Howland and Smith's future have been floating around for a while now, and the biggest question now is who will take their place, and more specifically, can UCLA land a young, established coach like Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens?

Smart seems more likely to head to LA than Stevens as Butler will be heading to a BCS conference in the Big East. And when people are talking about Stevens replacing Coach K at Duke, it would be hard for him to hurt his potential by failing out west.

UCLA would have to shell out a decent about of money for Smart, who's salary was broken down by USA Today at the end of last season, but after seeing what Smart has done at Virginia Commonwealth, it's hard to say he's not worth it. If Smart wants the job, it would seem realistic it is his for the taking. The question is if UCLA could lure Smart away. Illinois couldn't do it last year, but it also doesn't have the history and tradition of UCLA.

Other coaches that national analysts are talking about as possible candidates include Buzz Williams from Marquette, Jay Wright from Villanova and Lorenzo Romar from Washington.

With everything that has gone on in Southern California the past five years, what UCLA needs is stability. A young, but established, coach who can bring a reputable resumé and discipline to a former powerhouse that has lost its way is exactly what the Bruins need.

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Butler's Brad Stevens Deserves The Respect Of An Elite Coach

Brad Stevens is putting together another great season with Butler. (espn.com)

Brad Stevens has become a household name for college basketball fans, and as a young head coach, he has earned respect in the industry.

But Stevens isn't getting enough credit. He has the wow-look-what-he's-done-with-that-mid-major respect, but it's not enough. Stevens' name should be thrown in with the top 10-15 coaches in the business, and that's a whole new level of respect.

Butler and Stevens had a year to forget last year. The Bulldogs struggled to a 22-15 record after losing key player after key player. (The fact that 22 wins and a winning percentage over .500 is bad by Butler's standards shows what Stevens has done with this program.) And somehow that down year, which all teams go through, negated the fact that Stevens took his teams to back-to-back NCAA Title games. Not only two straight title games, which is impressive for any school, but the first two title games (and Final Fours) in Butler's history.

And this year? Butler is off to an 8-2 start, while taking down two of the great programs, and coaches, in college basketball. The Bulldogs crushed then No. 9 UNC in Maui 82-71 (the final score was not indicative of the game) and Saturday Butler took down No. 1 Indiana 88-86.

Butler may play in the A-10, and the Horizon League before that, but Stevens makes sure to put together a tough out-of-conference schedule. The Bulldogs have also already faced Marquette and Illinois in Maui, and will face Vanderbilt and Gonzaga in the next month. Stevens knows how to get his team to play well against the toughest competition, and Butler has become a terrifying team to schedule early in the year.

It's the nature of the business that Stevens may remain under-appreciated by the rest of the country while at a smaller school. But Stevens could soon be in the running for a few high-profile jobs that, if he continues to succeed, could catapult him into the ranks of one of the most praised and well-paid coaches in the nation.

The rumors have been going on for well over a year. Mike Krzyzewski will be retiring from Duke sometime in the near future, and Stevens' name has been tossed around as a possible replacement. But other schools have been in the rumor mix as well, and if Butler makes the NCAA Tournament again this year, Stevens should have plenty of suitors who come calling.

It's a shame that it will most likely take a high-profile job for Stevens to be viewed in the same light as today's elite coaches, but such is the nature of the business. Stevens will most likely move on to a powerhouse program and find success, finally earning the credit he has deserved for several years.

Until then, admire and don't forget about the young coach who led tiny Butler to the brink of college basketball's elite championship fraternity and completely changed the way we think about seeing Butler on our team's schedule.


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