Modified Hoosier Classic Might Return Among Indiana's Big Four
by Matt Snyder
The four most prominent basketball programs in the state of Indiana might rekindle a tradition. Back in the day -- which is to say long before I was even born -- Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame and Butler played a double-header basketball event called the Hoosier Classic. It dates back to the 1940s, but eventually fizzled for a variety of reasons.
Now, it appears to be coming back.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the four schools are working on a deal to bring the event to Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse in December of 2011. No word on what the name will be if the final details are hammered out, but it's not likely to revert to the old one.
Sure, Indiana is the Hoosier State, but we also know the nickname of Indiana is the Hoosiers -- also the at-present worst program of these four by a country mile. Back when the event was a big deal in Indiana, the Hoosiers were a much bigger deal than any of the other three schools nationally. The clout is now significantly less for Tom Crean's team, even if the name and five championship banners still carry a certain historical ring.
by FanHouse Newswire
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Butler forward Gordon Hayward (right) is going to enter the NBA draft but will not sign with an agent, allowing him to return to school if he withdraws his name by May 8.
The school confirmed the decision Wednesday afternoon.
The 6-foot-9 sophomore is expected to become the first Butler player taken in the first round, possibly in the top 15.
A native of Brownsburg, Ind., Hayward led the Bulldogs with 15.5 points per game and into the national championship game. He was the Horizon League player of the year and Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional, and along the way his draft stock soared.
The Bulldogs lost to Duke 61-59 in the title game after Hayward missed two potential go-ahead baskets in the closing seconds.
"I have decided to declare for this June's NBA draft," Hayward said in a statement released by the school. "At the present time, I have not signed with an agent. I'm looking forward to further exploring my options in the NBA, while finishing this semester strongly in the classroom."
Hayward was seen smiling inside the basketball office Wednesday afternoon as he chatted with two of his teammates-outgoing seniors Avery Jukes and Willie Veasley-before the decision was announced. Jukes and Veasley were scheduled to play briefly with the Washington Generals in a Wednesday night game at Conseco Fieldhouse against the Harlem Globetrotters.
Hayward is considered a small forward with point-guard skills, a combination that made him a matchup problem for most college teams. At Butler, Hayward handled the ball, shot 3-pointers and became even more adept at driving past bigger defenders who struggled against Hayward's smooth moves and uncanny body control around the basket.
His versatility was one of the primary reasons Butler reached the Final Four for the first time.
Butler coach Brad Stevens sounded as collected about the decision as he had throughout the Bulldogs' improbable tourney run.
"We'll support him as we gather additional information," Stevens said, one week after signing a 12-year deal to stay at Butler.
Stevens' decision left only one lingering question for the Bulldogs: Would Hayward return?
He still could, and if Hayward pulls out of the draft, Butler will have four of its five starters back. Some believe that could put the Bulldogs among the top five in the preseason poll.
Without him, Butler will still have 2008 Horizon League player of the year Matt Howard and both guards, Ronald Nored and Shelvin Mack, back in the lineup. Nored was chosen the league's co-defensive player of the year this season.
And an NBA team will have a new millionaire cornerstone for the future.
The announcement came on the same day two other players from Indiana, Purdue center JaJuan Johnson and Purdue guard E'Twaun Moore, announced they will enter the draft but will not sign with an agent, either.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
by David Steele
Jim Larranaga hadn't exactly grown tired of the comparisons between the Butler team that reached the national championship game two weekends ago, and the George Mason team he coached to the Final Four in 2006. As he pointed out when asked, it's hard to tag a No. 5 tournament seed with recent previous Sweet 16 trips a "Cinderella,'' the way you could the 11th-seeded George Mason squad that had never won an NCAA tournament game before. Still, there was one connection between Larranaga's success four years earlier and Butler's this season -- and the connection goes back to before either Larranaga or Brad Stevens, the coach who guided Butler to the final game, ever got to their current jobs. It was when Butler athletic director Barry Collier, the man who hired Stevens in 2007 -- and the man who gave him his 12-year contract extension last week -- was a coach himself, and when Larranaga was in the middle of his 11-year run at Bowling Green. Also involved is a coach who also later made an unlikely run to the Final Four, with Wisconsin -- Dick Bennett, at the time head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay. 
by Terrance Harris
INDIANAPOLIS - By most accounts, Butler sophomore point guard Ronald Nored is a natural leader, someone who knows exactly the right thing to say at the right time and is never at a loss for words. But for a moment Sunday afternoon, the usually unflappable Nored began stumbling through his words while attempting to find parallels between his leadership abilities and those of his late father Ronald, Sr. who was a pastor and community leader in their native Birmingham, Ala. "I can't even compare them. My leadership abilities don't even compare to him one bit," said Nored (right), whose father died at the age of 43 in Oct., 2003 after a bout with pancreatic cancer . "He was such a great guy, the things that he did. The thing that I try to follow the most is to be a servant for other people. "I'm just trying to be half of what of he did." 
by FanHouse TVThe Butler Bulldogs are trying to become the first team to win the national title in their home state since UCLA in 1975. Hoosier-mania is in full effect and the entire state of Indiana has caught the fever. While most of the country was watching Butler's victory over Michigan State on television, FanHouse TV had a unique perspective, spending the night in the most famous "Butler bar" in America. Click below to watch: