Starless Wisconsin has a star after all
Once deemed a bust, Butch has Badgers on verge of Final Four
 Michael Conroy / AP file Surprisingly, there was a time when many claimed Wisconsin's Brian Butch was a bust. |
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It's funny to say that now. But there was a time when many people uttered the phrase. Really.
Check him out right now, though. Butch drifts toward the 3-point arc and nestles just beyond the line. Takes a pass, squares and aims.
Flick. Swish. Three.
Butch strikes again. Kansas State is the victim during an NCAA tournament second-round game in Omaha, Neb. But the Wildcats shouldn't feel ashamed. This is a scene that has played out many times this season — against opponents better equipped than K-State to handle Butch.
Busts can't shoot like this. Busts don't hear their name chanted by adoring fans who pack a road gym — Northwestern's, late this season — to watch a Big Ten title-clinching win.
This is what they're saying now about Brian Butch: He's the senior star on a starless Wisconsin team that just may bust your bracket all by itself. The 31-4 Badgers plowed through their first two tournament opponents, whipping Cal State Fullerton before K-State. Up next: a Sweet 16 date with Davidson in Detroit. Butch — a 6-foot-11, blond-headed bomb dropper dubbed "The Polar Bear" — is a major reason Wisconsin is poised for its first Final Four since 2000.
"We don't want to be done," Butch says. "We're taking another step. That's why this team has been so good."
Learning the hard way
Nancy and Peter Butch's son was raised with equal parts love and respect. The goal: Be a good person — and a good student. A basketball prodigy? That part is a bonus.
Their boy grew and grew right there in little ol' Appleton, which is a few long 3-pointers from Green Bay. Butch forged his legend as America's best 3-point-shooting big man by firing shots. More shots. More shots. And, yes, even more shots.
But Nancy and Peter's son was going to be more than a decorated hoopster. He was going to be a student, remember? Good thing, because when folks were calling him a bust, books were Butch's refuge.
He arrived in Madison as a McDonald's All-American. He also arrived weak and underweight. His footwork? Abysmal. Butch wasn't ready to bang in the Big Ten. So, he redshirted.
But who had ever heard of a McDonald's All-American redshirting? Butch was the first to do so for nonmedical reasons. It was dubious — and a portent of things to come.
When he finally debuted, Butch was a dud; then he missed six games down the stretch of his first season while battling mono. He also had to deal with Nancy's battle with breast cancer. Butch was branded a wimp. It was simple: The big kid from Appleton just plain couldn't take the rigors of big-time basketball.
His sophomore year didn't bring relief — Butch was limited by a severe ankle sprain. Do you see where this is going? Wait, it gets worse. As a junior, Butch suffered a gruesome injury to his right elbow during a game at Ohio State. That's when some speculated his career was in peril. How would he recover the sweet stroke that defined his game with a bum wing? The injury made Butch a macabre star on YouTube, where his misfortune is captured on video for the galaxy to gawk at. To date, the footage has gotten over 130,000 hits for those who simply can't look away.
Why should he watch it? That was yesterday; this is today. Butch rehabbed before his senior year. Having gotten too heavy in an effort to bulk up earlier in his career, he also focused on losing weight.
"Good thing he redshirted his freshman year," says Badgers coach Bo Ryan. "I mean, what an opportunity, because some people get injured their senior year and never play again. So he got a chance to come back, and he's made the most of it. And he'll have his master's."
Lighter on his feet, Butch is a stronger rebounder and a stickier defender. And he is quicker in the low post, which allows him to maneuver in traffic with his modest athletic ability. Most impressive: Butch has become a player who demands the ball, an assertive presence in the paint. A finesse player? Forget it.
Sweet to the last drop
Wincing back over his shoulder, it all makes sense now to Butch. But four years ago, it was maddening. His basketball world was collapsing in unfulfilled promise, so Butch buried himself in his schoolwork. And he was good at it.
A jock who likes school? Butch would feel the eyes, the stares piercing him as he walked into classes. What is an athlete doing in here? This is a serious class for serious students. Butch is a basketball player.
It all makes Butch shrug. And chuckle. This season has been a glorious final lap for a better-than-ever Butch, who leads the Big Ten regular-season and tourney champions in scoring (12.4 points per game) and rebounding (6.7). You would hardly recognize the kid who arrived in Madison from Appleton.
"I kept on trying to get better so when I was in position this year, I'd be able to help the team," says Butch. "I was pretty motivated to keep on going. Your last hurrah in the NCAA tournament — you want to go out there and play the best basketball that you can."
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