Post by Commissioner on Apr 19, 2014 13:31:59 GMT -5
Butler has now had 4 players announce an intent to transfer.
Sophomore guard Davontae Morgan was a two-star recruit who played just 143 minutes in two seasons, (87 minutes this year). He was recruited when Butler was still in the Horizon. No big loss.
Freshman guard Rene Castro was 3 star recruit with good A-10 (St. Joe's) and Big East offers (Pitt; Seton Hall). He was getting respectable freshman minutes early in the year (about 8 minutes per game, 3.3 ppg) but was suspended a couple times, lost his spot in the rotation, and announced in February he would transfer. Good potential but perhaps more trouble than he was worth.
Freshman Nolan Berry played in just 18 games this year, but he's 6-10 and was a 3 start recruit with offers from Missouri and Purdue when he signed in the early period. Hate to lose big men, and there was perhaps still promise there. But true, he hadn't played a lot.
Now freshman guard Elijah Brown has announced he's leaving. As a freshman this year Brown (a 3 star recruit) averaged nearly 20 minutes and 7 points per game. He scored in double figures 9 times, including 19 points in a loss to Villanova and 15 in a loss to Oklahoma State. He logged double-digit minutes in all but two games.
This is on top of junior wing Andrew Smeathers, who transferred to Mt. St. Mary's last fall, and Michale Volovic, a freshman preferred walk-on who is leaving. Volovic isn't a Big East caliber player, but he's not a bad player, an Indiana All-Stater who merited looks, though eventually not offers, from several Big 10 teams in HS.
So Morgan, Smeathers, and Volovic are no big loss. Castro and Berry definitely had promise, but Castro seems to have been trouble and Berry hadn't done much to establish himself as a freshman. Brown, howvever, matters, and they can't be happy to lose him.
Is this all just house-keeping by Coach Brandon Miller - sweeping away some Horizon-caliber recruits (Smeathers, Morgan), walk-ons (Volovic), and malcontents (Castro)? Or with Berry and especially Brown leaving, is it a bit more?
OTOH, they did pick up Austin Ethrington as a transfer from Indiana (where he played 10 minutes per game this year as a soph) and a big one, and soph Tyler Lewis from NC State. Lewis started the final 14 games of the season for NC State, when they played their best ball of the year. Lewis apparently nearly chose Butler out of HS, and his best friend at NC State, TJ Warren, is going pro. But with those two sitting out next season, we'll have to see what Butler has, and how things play out for Miller.
Sophomore guard Davontae Morgan was a two-star recruit who played just 143 minutes in two seasons, (87 minutes this year). He was recruited when Butler was still in the Horizon. No big loss.
Freshman guard Rene Castro was 3 star recruit with good A-10 (St. Joe's) and Big East offers (Pitt; Seton Hall). He was getting respectable freshman minutes early in the year (about 8 minutes per game, 3.3 ppg) but was suspended a couple times, lost his spot in the rotation, and announced in February he would transfer. Good potential but perhaps more trouble than he was worth.
Freshman Nolan Berry played in just 18 games this year, but he's 6-10 and was a 3 start recruit with offers from Missouri and Purdue when he signed in the early period. Hate to lose big men, and there was perhaps still promise there. But true, he hadn't played a lot.
Now freshman guard Elijah Brown has announced he's leaving. As a freshman this year Brown (a 3 star recruit) averaged nearly 20 minutes and 7 points per game. He scored in double figures 9 times, including 19 points in a loss to Villanova and 15 in a loss to Oklahoma State. He logged double-digit minutes in all but two games.
This is on top of junior wing Andrew Smeathers, who transferred to Mt. St. Mary's last fall, and Michale Volovic, a freshman preferred walk-on who is leaving. Volovic isn't a Big East caliber player, but he's not a bad player, an Indiana All-Stater who merited looks, though eventually not offers, from several Big 10 teams in HS.
So Morgan, Smeathers, and Volovic are no big loss. Castro and Berry definitely had promise, but Castro seems to have been trouble and Berry hadn't done much to establish himself as a freshman. Brown, howvever, matters, and they can't be happy to lose him.
Is this all just house-keeping by Coach Brandon Miller - sweeping away some Horizon-caliber recruits (Smeathers, Morgan), walk-ons (Volovic), and malcontents (Castro)? Or with Berry and especially Brown leaving, is it a bit more?
OTOH, they did pick up Austin Ethrington as a transfer from Indiana (where he played 10 minutes per game this year as a soph) and a big one, and soph Tyler Lewis from NC State. Lewis started the final 14 games of the season for NC State, when they played their best ball of the year. Lewis apparently nearly chose Butler out of HS, and his best friend at NC State, TJ Warren, is going pro. But with those two sitting out next season, we'll have to see what Butler has, and how things play out for Miller.