Men's Basketball Release #21 -- Year-End Review

April 10, 2007

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League takes Sweet 16 stage again
When Butler defeated Old Dominion and Maryland at the NCAA Championship, it marked the third time in the last five years that a Horizon League team has been among the last 16 teams standing. Butler reached the regional semifinal in 2003, with UW-Milwaukee advancing to the third round in 2005. Only seven other conferences can claim three Sweet 16 appearances since 2003.

Those two schools have helped the League post a total of seven NCAA tournament victories in the last five years, the best five-year run in League history. Ironically, UWM (2006, second round) and Butler (2007) each had their season ended by eventual national champion Florida, while the Panthers' 2005 odyssey ended with a loss to runner-up Illinois.

Wright State also made its first-ever appearance in the Division I tournament, winning the League Championship before eventually falling to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA's "Big Dance." With WSU's success this year, Youngstown State is the only League school to never play in the tournament, while Cleveland State is the only other institution not to represent the League in the national summit. CSU was a member of the Mid-Continent Conference when the Vikings played in the 1986 tournament.

Bulldogs finish 13th in national poll
Butler set a League record with its 29 victories (29-7 overall) and ranked among the nation's top teams for nearly the entire season. The Bulldogs, who became the League's first-ever Top-10 team in February, ranked 13th in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Butler also ended the season 21st in the Associated Press media canvass; the AP does not conduct a poll after the NCAA tournament.

Butler reached the No. 10 spot in the AP rankings and No. 9 on the ESPN/USAT list on Feb. 5, when the Bulldogs were 23-2 at the time. Wright State knocked off the Bulldogs five days later, launching the Raiders toward their first-ever League championship.

League represented on final stat charts, as well
Several Horizon League performers finished among the national statistical leaders, as announced by the NCAA this week.

Butler junior guard A.J. Graves posted the highest individual finish, ranking second to Gonzaga's Derek Raivio with a .948 free-throw percentage. Graves missed only eight of 153 attempts this season and made 63 in a row at one point. UW-Green Bay sophomore forward Mike Schachtner finished sixth on the same chart at .912, with UIC sophomore guard Josh Mayo (.886) and Wright State senior guard DaShaun Wood (.883) 14th and 16th, respectively.

Detroit senior center Ryvon Covile finished seventh on the rebounding charts, pulling down an average of 10.6 caroms per contest. Covile recorded 16 double-doubles this season, while posting the League's highest rebounding average since Wright State's Thad Burton had a 10.9 rate in 1997-98.

UIC sophomore center Scott VanderMeer eclipsed the League's single-season record with 111 blocked shots, a 3.5 per-game rate which ranked sixth on the final NCAA stat charts. VanderMeer had a loop-record nine rejections versus Cleveland State on Jan. 27, 2007.

On the team charts, Butler ranked fifth in the nation defensively, allowing 57.1 points per game. The Bulldogs' scoring margin of plus-10.5 points per game was 17th in that deprtment, while Butler led the nation in fewest turnovers per game with a rate of just 9.5 miscues per outing. UW-Green Bay was 18th (11.7) on that list, with all nine League teams ranked among the top 92.

Wood named MVP of Portsmouth Invitational
Wright State senior guard DaShaun Wood stepped into the spotlight in front of several NBA scouts at last week's 55th Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT), earning Most Valuable Player honors at the event after leading his team to the tourney championship.

Wood averaged 15.7 points and nine assists per game as his Holiday Inn-Portsmouth squad raced to the title. Wood hit 15 of 29 shots from the field (51.7 percent), including a seven-for-13 showing behind the arc, and made 10-of-11 free-throw attempts. He handed out nine assists in each contest. Wood's 14 points in the championship game included an acrobatic three-point play with 52 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Previous tournament MVPs include such future NBA standouts as Tim Hardaway, Dennis Rodman and Dan Majerle. NBA stars Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Rick Barry, Dave Cowens and John Lucas have also played at the PIT before entering the professional ranks.

Wood was a late replacement, being invited just days before the event, but made the most of his opportunity. His three-game stat line also featured six steals.

Wood headlned an all-tournament team that also featured Detroit senior forward Ryvon Covile. The Titan standout was a key contributor to his runner-up team, averaging 12.7 points and 13.3 rebounds in three contests. Covile had two double-doubles, including a semifinal effort which featured 16 points and a tournament-single-game-high 18 rebounds. He tallied nine points in the final, just missing his third consecutive double-double.

Loyola senior guard Blake Schilb was the third League representative among the 64 invitees. Schilb pouted in a game-high 25 points in his final outing, a consolation-round victory. Schilb was niine-of-14 from the field with three three-pointers and added five rebounds Saturday, after a 16-point, seven-rebound effort earlier in the tournament. He averaged 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, shooting 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor.

The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is the nation's oldest amateur basketball tournament, and is recognized by NBA and European scouts as a premier showcase for future professional players. It is the only tournament for college seniors to participate in and be evaluated by NBA scouts prior to the Association's pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla.

Stevens takes the reins at Butler
Former Butler asistant coach Brad Stevens was named the Bulldogs' head men's basketball coach on April 5, ending a search that lasted less than three days.

Stevens follows current Ohio State head coach Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter, who resigned his position three days earlier---one day after winning the Division I Coach of the Year honor from the National Association of Basketball Coaches---to become the head coach at the University of Iowa. Stevens worked under each of the two previous Butler coaches.

Stevens, 30, recently completed his sixth season as an assistant coach under Lickliter. During Stevens' tenure as Lickliter's assistant, Butler compiled a 131-61 record, won three Horizon League regular-season titles and made four trips to postseason tournament play. The Bulldogs were ranked in the Top 25 of both the AP and ESPN/USA Today national polls for 16 consecutive weeks.

Stevens joined the Bulldogs' staff in 2000-01 as coordinator of basketball operations, handling a variety of administrative duties. He was offered a full-time assistant coaching position by Lickliter in 2001-02. He has been active in all phases of the Butler basketball program, including recruiting, game preparation, on-court coaching and skills instruction.

The new Butler coach left a position as a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis in June of 2000 to pursue a career in basketball coaching. He served in a volunteer capacity in Butler's basketball office during the summer of 2000, before eventually gaining a full-time administrative position on the Bulldogs' staff under Matta in the fall of 2000.

Stevens earned a B.A. degree in economics from DePauw in 1999.

For other notes and a list of records set in 2006-07, as well as final team and individual statistics, refer to the PDF version of this release.