Listen up, Brad Stevens, because this one is for you. I realize you're just coming off your heartbreaking loss in the NCAA Tournament final to the bloated bag of suck that is Duke, but I think you need to hear this.
I get it, Brad, you're a young coach with a bright future at the collegiate level. You're 33 and about as attractive as coaches get — practically the polar opposite of Mike Krzyzewski, in fact — and you just led Butler to a few points shy of giving college basketball one of its greatest stories ever.
The selection committee put this task in your face and said "Do it. We don't think you can." Not since 1972 has a school played a Final Four in its hometown, but there was Butler, defying the No. 5 seed it got. Now you have this other task in your face, one far more daunting. You have to decide whether or not you want to move on.
Don't do it, Brad. From one friend to one Final Four coach, my advice is this: Don't leave Butler.
Brad, you can parlay this championship-game appearance into a coaching gig at one of the powerhouses. Want to go to the Pac-10? It's yours! Feel like coaching on the East Coast in the ACC? Go for it! Look, I get it Brad, you're a hot commodity. You have the player's pedigree of an All-Conference point guard at DePauw University, and now you have the coaching pedigree.
The temptation is there, Brad. Go ahead; take a bite of the apple. It's ripe with a hefty salary, flashy business cards and a new home. What's that? You say something's missing from the taste? Right. That's the sweetness of building a dynasty at Butler.
Departing from the Bulldogs' program means leaving behind — "abandoning" is too strong of a word — a potential gold mine. This is a team that beat Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State in three consecutive games, not to mention three NCAA Tournament appearances under Stevens.
Follow what Gonzaga coach Mark Few has done after taking over in the 1999-00 season at the elite mid-major school: 10 consecutive WCC regular season championships, seven WCC Coach of the Year honors and a 291-73 all-time record.
I know you have a contract with Butler through the 2015-16 season, but $400,000 looks awfully small compared to a seven-digit number. At least it sounds like you have the right mindset, telling The New York Times that you would only leave if they kicked you out.
The winner's mentality you've instilled in Butler could last for years. Your head-coaching record is currently 89-15. Project that average per-year record of 29.67-5 over time and you surpass Bobby Knight's current mark of 902 wins for the coach with the most wins in Div. I men's basketball history in a little more than 27 years, when you're 60. Your winning percentage of .856 would rank as first all-time, if you qualified with enough games coached.
How would that look on a résumé? Forget the glamour of going to a state school; imagine this list: Adolph Rupp, Kentucky; John Wooden, UCLA; Dean Smith, UNC; Bob Knight, Texas Tech/Indiana; Brad Stevens, Butler. Looks pretty good right?
And maybe it's selfish of me to not wish you well in anything you do. Maybe I should be encouraging you to go on to bigger and better things. But in my mind, you've become a beacon of light for mid-major schools and coaches everywhere. You took down the top dogs. You made the Final Four. You, coach of Butler, were the national runner-up.
If you leave, I bid you farewell. You're going to have a lot of success wherever you go, I'm sure of it. But for mid-major fans everywhere, please remain in Indianapolis, build a dynasty and kick the living snot out of Duke next year.
--
Alex Prewitt is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Alexander.Prewitt@tufts.edu.
