Too Soon Yo!

Gordon Hayward has officially put his name in the NBA draft. He leaves a gaping hole in Butler's lineup, a lot of what ifs, and some incredible memories

Firstly, I'm not writing this to admonish Mr. Hayward for his decision. I'd gladly take three or four million dollars to write for the West Coast Conference network. In fact, unlike many of my fellow college basketball lovers, I'm a huge NBA fan. His game should translate well to the next level and, by all accounts, he's made the correct decision. I look forward to watching him on TNT for years to come.

It just sucks for the people that covered him during his two years at Butler.

Hayward played the college game with an ease that could often times be confused with passiveness. His height and ball handling ability let him see over the defense and his high basketball IQ allowed him to anticipate traps, essentially eliminating certain teams from running their defensive sets. In fact, Gary Waters claimed that Cleveland State totally eliminated their diamond press because of Hayward's ability. That's an incredible compliment from a man who can be stingy in heaping praise on his opponents.

His game improved dramatically from his freshman to sophomore season and many thought he would statistically dominate the Horizon League. Glancing at his point totals and seeing only four 20-point games against HL would be missing what made Hayward great. Many times it was merely his presence on the court that allowed his teammates to fulfill their potential. The biggest improvement in his two years at Butler was his rebounding. During the tournament Hayward was the reason Butler held its own on the glass against much bigger competition. His ability to sky for a rebound was fun to watch. Whenever he got his fingers on a ball it was his. He was the ultimate equalizer for the Bulldogs.

Hayward was a class act off the court as well. For two years Hayward was one of the most requested athletes in the Horizon League for media interviews. Yet every time I saw him interviewed he had a grin on his face that said 'why do these guys want to talk to me?'.

How Butler replaces Hayward's size and skills will determine how well they do against an ambitious schedule next year. More pressure now falls on Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack, and Ronald Nored.

Think about this: If Willie Veasley would have left after his sophomore year he would have never have attempted a 3-pointer.

Hayward's career at Butler may have been short but that doesn't mean it didn't have some memorable moments.

My Top 5 Gordon Hayward moments:

5) A 3-way tie (cheating, I know) because each of these games showed his dynamite outside touch in big games on the road...as a freshman. 12/13/08 @ Ohio State, 25 pts, 7-11 on 3s; 1/17/09 @ UIC, 25 pts, 7-13 on 3s; 2/21/09 @ Davidson, 27 pts, 4-7 on 3s. Damon and I call the UIC game 'the dagger game'. Click HERE and wait for the last highlight to see why.

4) 12/22/09 against Xavier. Everybody remembers the clock debacle but I remember Hayward getting up off the ground and making a play with nanoseconds to spare.

3) 3/18/10 against UTEP. Randy Culpepper's fast break dunk attempt being swallowed by Haywards forearm and hand. Replays showed it was 100% clean. The NCAA highlights include the foul as evidence for its awesomeness.

2) 3/20/10 against Murray State. With time running down Hayward had the presence of mind to trap the ball and eventually dive on it to seal Butler's trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Without that play there may not have been a Final Four run.

1) 3/27/10 against Kansas State. You know the play. Hayward takes the ball on the wing and yo-yos it until he gets his man in the exact position he wants. A hard step to the baseline and a pro-nasty crossover back between his legs and then tops it off with an 'elbow in your eyeball' three pointer. It almost reminded me of my favorite college basketball play of all time. Let's watch it again.

Everybody at HLN wishes Gordon a very long and successful professional basketball career. Until next time, Don't Let the Smooth Taste Fool Ya.