Men's Basketball Preview - Part 4: Butler
Nov. 2, 2006
Bulldogs Seek Continued Success In 2006-07
If Butler's Todd Lickliter were the type of coach who worried about things that he didn't have, he'd have plenty of reason to fret in 2006-07.
Gone from last year's 20-13 team, which advanced to the second round of the NIT, are Horizon League Player of the Year Brandon Polk, three-year starting point guard Avery Sheets and Butler's all-time leader in three-point field goals, Bruce Horan.
But the Butler coach prefers to focus on what his team does have.
"We have four seniors who have a lot of experience to draw upon, and they're eager to improve upon what we've done," said Lickliter, who's entering his sixth season with 102 career wins. "We have two two-year starters back, and injury-wise, we're healed. And we also have two guys who were redshirts and have been in the program for a year, and that's beneficial."
The loss of last year's seniors does create some gaping holes for the Bulldogs. Polk had the ninth-highest single season scoring total in Butler history with 593 points, while Sheets and Horan both finished as career 1,000-point scorers. Sheets led the league in assist/turnover ratio, while Horan led the circuit in 3-point field goals.
Lickliter admits that replacing the talented trio won't be easy.
"We may have to do it by committee. I don't know that you can take one player and say `OK, I want you to lead the league in assist/turnover ratio' or take another player and say `I want you to lead the league in 3-point field goals.' I don't think we can expect someone deliver inside the way that Brandon (Polk) did," said Butler's coach.
"We have to look at it as a total team, and we may have to do it in a different way. But we have to have these constants - we have to take care of the basketball, we have to share the basketball offensively, and we have to commit to guarding as a team."
The chairmen of Lickliter's committee may well be senior Brandon Crone and sophomore A. J. Graves, both two-year starters for the Bulldogs. Crone started all 33 games last season and finished as the Bulldogs' leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer. He also led the team in steals and ranked third on the squad in assists. Graves, a starter in 56 consecutive games, was Butler's second-leading scorer with a 13.4 average. He finished second on the team in assists and steals, and he'll enter the 2006-07 season as Butler's third all-time leading free throw shooter.
Lickliter can call on two other players who saw action in all 33 games last season. Senior Brian Ligon rebounded from two knee surgeries to provide a solid inside presence for the Bulldogs. He finished as the team's third-leading rebounder and added a strong inside defender to the Bulldogs' lineup. Senior Julian Betko also rebounded from a knee surgery, and he wound up sixth on the team in scoring and minutes played while finishing fourth in assists.
Three other letterwinners round out Butler's returning corps. Senior Marcus Nellems played in 24 games last season after transferring from Marshalltown Community College, while junior Drew Streicher saw action in 25 games as a top front court reserve. Sophomore Ben Slaton, who made the squad as a walk-on, played in eight games.
Among Lickliter's five newcomers are two transfers, who sat out last season as redshirts. Junior guard Mike Green joined the Bulldogs after spending two seasons at Towson, where he started 56 of 58 games and finished as the team's second-leading scorer for two straight seasons. Sophomore Pete Campbell, a 6-7 forward, was the second-leading scorer at IPFW in 2004-05, when he was named NCAA Division I All-Independent Newcomer of the Year.
The remaining newcomers are all true freshmen. Grant Leiendecker, a 6-4 guard from Fort Wayne Homestead, earned a spot on the Indiana All Star Team for the annual 2006 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series. Willie Veasley, a 6-3 guard-forward from Freeport, Ill., was named conference Player of the Year and second team All-State in 2005-06, while Elliot Engelmann, a 6-7 forward from Downers Grove South in Illinois, was an all-area performer in the Chicago suburbs.
The Bulldogs have won 20 or more games in eight of the past ten seasons, and Butler has made eight post-season tournament appearances (five NCAA, three NIT) over the past decade! In five seasons under Lickliter, the Bulldogs have averaged better than 20 wins per season and made three post-season tournament appearances.
BULLDOG BITS: The last time Butler lost three senior starters, including a Horizon League Player of the Year, was following the 2001-02 season. The Bulldogs responded the following season with a school-record 27 wins and a trip to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament.
Story provided by the Butler Sports Information Office.
