Greg Doyle Article (Lot's of comparison between BU and XU)

[Muskie]

LINK

Butler is becoming Xavier, in other words. And not the Xavier that attracted Thad Matta in 2001. No, this Xavier is better than that one, because Xavier has done — as Butler is doing now — some serious evolution.
Xavier used to be Butler, finding great coaches and then losing them. Remember, since 2000 Butler has seen five coaches leave for something bigger (Collier, Matta, Lickliter, Stevens, Holtmann). So has Xavier. And Xavier started losing them in the 1980s.
Bob Staak left for Wake Forest in 1985, then Pete Gillen to Providence (‘94), Skip Prosser to Wake Forest (2001), Thad Matta to Ohio State (‘04) and Sean Miller to Arizona (‘09).
But look now.
Even after reaching four Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight in eight years, marketable (and still young) Chris Mack hasn’t left Xavier, and unless someone huge comes calling — I’m talking bluebloods, like Duke or UNC or Kentucky or Kansas — he’s not leaving. Put it this way: Before Chris Holtmann said yes, Chris Mack told Ohio State no. Because Xavier has become a destination.

[throwbackmuskie]

It is an interesting comparison to a degree. However Butler just lost their coach to a program worse off than themselves at the moment. Before being a BE school, I can say yeah good move. After Butler being in the BE and doing a lot better than osu of late, still reeks of stepping stone school.

[Emp]

Thanks, Muskie. I'm lazy, so I just follow the great links from many sources on this site.

What's the word on holding on to the recruiting class? They cant leave them hanging out there very long......

Woops, read all threads before posting.

[JTG]

It is an interesting comparison to a degree. However Butler just lost their coach to a program worse off than themselves at the moment. Before being a BE school, I can say yeah good move. After Butler being in the BE and doing a lot better than osu of late, still reeks of stepping stone school.

That's pretty harsh. $25 million is life changing money, and OSU has money to burn and phenomenonal resources. Butler is still near the bottom of the BE in resources and facilities.

[throwbackmuskie]

That's pretty harsh. $25 million is life changing money, and OSU has money to burn and phenomenonal resources. Butler is still near the bottom of the BE in resources and facilities.

So they are still a stepping stone school, where as Xavier at this point has turned into a destination. That is where I feel the comparison between the two when it comes to coaches is still far off.

[JTG]

I think the point of the story is, X is already at where Butler aspires to be. It seemed like a very flattering article for Xavier.

[AviatorX]

So they are still a stepping stone school, where as Xavier at this point has turned into a destination. That is where I feel the comparison between the two when it comes to coaches is still far off.

I mean, it depends on your definition of destination. There are still jobs Mack would probably leave for. No inside info here, but it's not difficult to imagine that the timing of the OSU situation and making an Elite 8 run to extend the season during IU's search worked in X's favor this cycle.

Butler is likely past the point of coaches leaving for Iowa like Lickliter did or the equivalent of early 2000's X like Matta. Roughly a similar position to X. For 99% of schools, there's always going to be a handful of schools that, absent a specific circumstance like Mark Few refusing to leave the PNW, will be tough for the coach to rebuff.

This coming from a guy who hates Butler, by the way.

[throwbackmuskie]

I get what you guys are saying, but I still think butler is still a ways off from being Xavier like.


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[XUFan09]

However Butler just lost their coach to a program worse off than themselves at the moment.

This is a common criticism of programs looking for a new coach. However, there's almost a reason that the old coach is gone. It's not like schools regularly fire coaches who have recent success and who have a good recruiting class coming in. The major question about a program generally concerns its long-term potential. In this regard, OSU has more upside than Butler and, yes, it has more upside than Xavier too. The question becomes whether that's worth the short-term losses, not to mention other personal implications (which no doubt factor greatly in Chris Mack's case).

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[XUFan09]

I get what you guys are saying, but I still think butler is still a ways off from being Xavier like.


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Butler still isn't quite at the same level, true, but in part that's helped by Xavier having a really good coach with ties to the program and the city. It makes for a highly stable situation. The article isn't far off, and it wouldn't surprise me if one more good hire does it for Butler to reach the 2017 level of Xavier in a few years. By that time, though, I expect Xavier to be on another level, so it's not like Butler will have caught up.

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