Butler Basketball

The Butler Bulldogs and head basketball coach Chris Holtmann agreed to terms Friday on a contract extension that will carry his current deal through 2025, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman and the Indianapolis Star's David Woods.

Holtmann was promoted from interim to full-time head coach in January 2015 after Brandon Miller—who initially replaced Brad Stevens—took a medical leave of absence from the program.

Holtmann has led the Bulldogs to three straight NCAA tournament appearances and three seasons of at least 22 wins.

This past season, the Bulldogs went 25-9, including 12-6 in conference play en route to a second-place finish in the Big East. They advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament thanks to a pair of wins over No. 13 seed Winthrop and No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee.

However, Butler was bounced by the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels in a 92-80 Sweet 16 loss.

The Bulldogs finished the season ranked 25th overall in KenPom.com's rankings with an adjusted offensive efficiency that clocked in at No. 20 ahead of notable programs like Florida, Baylor, West Virginia and Purdue.

Kevin Morris texted his principal last Wednesday night and asked that she not come by for an evaluation the following morning—he wouldn't be teaching. Instead, Morris, the boys basketball coach at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, had something else in mind.

So on Thursday he pulled out the bleachers in the gymnasium, rolled out the projector, pulled down the big screen and found the site he was searching for on his laptop. The 150 students who arrived at 1 p.m. were there for weightlifting or aerobics or P.E., but by 1:30 they all had settled in for the show: Former Apalachee star Kamar Baldwin was about to make his NCAA tournament debut.

Some of these students had sat in these same bleachers and watched as Baldwin collected accolade after accolade. He had started on the Wildcats varsity squad as a freshman, had been named all-state from his sophomore through senior seasons, had earned Georgia's Region 8-AAAAA Player of the Year award twice and had left school with 2,593 points—the most ever for a Barrow County player. From their seats, they could see his framed No. 44 jersey on the wall above a basket, retired before he graduated. But they weren't looking at the ceiling; they were staring at the screen as Baldwin and his Butler Bulldogs took on the Winthrop Eagles in Milwaukee.

They whooped and hollered as Baldwin snagged a steal off Winthrop's Bjorn Broman not a minute into the game, as he blocked a shot not five minutes in and as he drained the three that extended Butler's lead to 11 with about six minutes to go in the first half. As the halftime buzzer sounded, so did the bell signaling the end of the school day. But after the crowd had dispersed and the projector had been disassembled, Morris and five current players huddled in his office and crowded around his 15-inch laptop to watch Butler advance with a 12-point win.

Baldwin finished with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. His statistics weren't amazing, but the group nonetheless left Morris' office in awe. The players had believed all along that Baldwin would succeed in college basketball one day, but now they marveled anew at how a 6-foot 3-star recruit from their tiny, 15,000-person town had become an impact Division I starter so soon.

---

Before Kamar Baldwin could form words or even memories, basketball was central to his life. His mother, Kay Holloway, who had played point guard in high school and for a year at Shorter University in nearby Rome, Georgia, was the girls coach at Winder-Barrow, the only other high school in Barrow County—and Apalachee's chief rival. By the time he turned two and could string a sentence together, Kamar implored his mother to let him start playing basketball.

"Eventually," she jokes, "I had to put a ball in his hands just to shut him up."

At three, Kamar was so hooked that he talked the director of his day care into buying him a ball and a hoop so that he wouldn't have to spend the better part of each day away from the game. His mother would come to collect him after work and find him instructing his peers on proper dribbling technique. When she brought him home, he'd step in front of the Fisher-Price hoop in his bedroom and hoist shots until his tiny arms failed. By the time he turned four, he was playing organized basketball at the YMCA. His mother coached the team.

Just two years later, Morris brought his son, Ethan, to the YMCA for a game. As Ethan played, Morris found himself distracted by a kid on the next court over—he couldn't tell whether the boy was left-handed or right-handed, but he knew for certain he was going to be a big-time player. Since there are only two schools in Barrow County, he knew he had to find the boy's family and ask an important question: Did they live in Winder-Barrow's district or Apalachee's? His mother, herself a special education teacher, gave him the good news about her son.

"I wouldn't say I was recruiting then," Morris says, "but I was definitely excited."

Around that time, Kay—who hadn't married Kamar's father, Greg Baldwin—began dating Jamie Holloway, a sheriff she'd first met when they were both basketball players at Shorter. As their relationship grew serious, Holloway invested more and more time refining Kamar's burgeoning basketball skills. They'd pass hours on the driveway, mimicking Chris Paul's dribbling techniques and forming a sharp shooting stroke.

"At first, I hated it," Kamar says. "I'd feel like I mastered something, and then we'd do it again and again—for hours, for days. Now I understand how much that helped to shape me."

The only gap in his young career came in third grade. Two times that year, his mother was called in for a teacher's conference: Kamar was becoming the class clown. She told him that if she had to make another trip to the school, she wouldn't allow him to to play basketball that year. When the third call came, he protested the suspension, but it stood.

"I hated not being able to play, but I'm glad they didn't give in," Kamar says. "I carry that lesson with me to this day."

When Morris finally got Kamar on his court, for a four-day camp the summer after Kamar's suspension, he played him with fifth- and sixth-graders and marveled at how ahead of the curve he was. Morris gave Kamar a nickname that year: The Franchise.

"When we heard Kamar was coming, we celebrated like we'd just gotten into the Sweet 16."
—Butler head coach Chris Holtmann

But Baldwin soon learned that being the best player in Barrow County wasn't enough to help him achieve his dream of playing college basketball. In eighth grade, after having dabbled in football (as a quarterback) and track (he ran the 400-meter dash and hurdles), he decided to focus exclusively on hoops.

He and Jamie Holloway, by now his stepfather, drove to Atlanta, about 45 minutes away, to try out for the Atlanta Celtics AAU team—a program that had helped develop NBA stars like Dwight Howard and Josh Smith. At the tryout, coach Derrick Dickerson pushed Baldwin to his limits, physically and psychologically. Dickerson made him do pushups until his arms felt like spaghetti noodles and told him he might never make it on this team—or even out of Barrow County.

"He came into my practice like he was pretty good," Dickerson says, "and I blasted him. I got in his face. I called him a prima donna."

In the truck on the way back to Winder, Holloway cut the silence with a question: "Do you want to go back?"

How Baldwin responded convinced Holloway that his stepson would reach his basketball potential: "Yes, sir."

For the rest of high school, Baldwin learned to balance his experience with his two basketball teams. With the Celtics, he developed slowly, coming off the bench behind highly touted recruits like Kobi Simmons, a 5-star who plays for Arizona, and Alterique Gilbert, a 4-star who plays for UConn.

At Apalachee, Baldwin was a legend, sometimes scoring as many as 23 points in a row for his team and averaging a double-double in his final three seasons. In his senior year alone, he scored 29.6 points per game and added 10.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.7 steals.

As his game grew, so too did the crowds. Morris estimates attendance went from about 400 fans a game in Baldwin's freshman year to nearly 1,000 during his senior season. And when Winder-Barrow came to the gym, it was standing room only.

But with each passing year, two things about Baldwin's game remained consistent: He was stellar on defense and a consummate teammate. Newspaper clippings, Dickerson says, often misstated Baldwin's height as 6'3" or 6'4"—he was 5'11" in high school—because his 6'6" wingspan and penchant for picking pockets made him appear taller than he was. And Baldwin never pouted when he was pulled from games.

"In fact," Dickerson says, "he'd often whisper to the guy who replaced him, 'Pick up where I left off. Go get 'em!' That's just how he was raised. His family worked for everything they had. His game, like his upbringing, is blue-collar."

---

There was one time each year when Baldwin was a little selfish: March. Whether he was with his mom or his dad, everyone in each family—he has three younger siblings on his mother's side and two on his father's—knew not to expect much TV time. Baldwin spent every free minute taking in the NCAA tournament. And one particular year now stands out in his memory: 2010.

That March, a scrappy Horizon League team made its first of two consecutive trips to the national championship game, and Baldwin begged his mom to let him stay up past his bedtime to watch the spellbinding finish. After Gordon Hayward missed what would have been the game-winning shot by inches, Baldwin went to bed deflated.

"I was rooting so hard for Butler to beat Duke," Baldwin says. "I always loved the Cinderella story."

Baldwin didn't think much about Butler, a school 9.5 hours north of Winder, until he received a call from Butler staffer Emerson Kampen during the summer before his senior year. Emerson had gone to Dallas to scout some other players but decided on a whim to stick around for an Atlanta Celtics game instead of heading back to his hotel room to relax. Even though Baldwin was coming off the bench, Emerson was captivated by the player who was displaying ferocious defensive intensity during his third game of the afternoon.

"He wasn't a self-promoter," Emerson, now Butler's men's basketball analyst, says. "But he played the game the right way. I knew as soon as I saw him that he would fit in at Butler."

When head coach Chris Holtmann visited Winder later that summer, he agreed. The Bulldogs were playing catch-up in recruiting because Holtmann had only been promoted from interim coach to the permanent job in January, and it had been challenging to get players to commit to a coach to whom the school hadn't yet committed.

"Anyone who thinks this team is an underdog doesn't know the history of Butler basketball."
—Kamar Baldwin

For Baldwin, the only challenge was convincing himself that he could handle living so far away from family—and living in the snow. He accepted Butler's scholarship in August of his senior year.

"We had just lost two all-conference guards," Holtmann says. "So when we heard Kamar was coming, we celebrated like we'd just gotten into the Sweet 16."

Baldwin soon gave them even more cause to celebrate. In the second game of this season, Butler was tied at 68 at home against Northwestern with 12.9 seconds left. Baldwin calmly handled the inbounds pass, slipped behind a screen, crossed over his defender, the 6'8" Gavin Skelly, and hit a 20-foot step-back jumper to seal the win. In the process, he also earned his first "Onions!" call from Bill Raftery.

In their dorm room suite later that night, Joey Brunk, a freshman forward, and Avery Woodson, a senior guard, wanted to celebrate, but Baldwin demurred. He had no interest in spending any time talking about himself.

The next day, when Holtmann called Baldwin into his office to explain that there would be a comedown, that he wouldn't end every game of his college career with the winning shot, he found a freshman who had already comfortably moved on from the biggest moment of his college basketball career.

Though he never begged to be in the starting lineup—"I'm just as happy being a cheerleader on the bench as I am being on the floor," he says—Baldwin's play made the argument for him early on. After just nine games, he had wormed his way into the starting lineup, capable of combining stellar defense—watch him help seal Butler's home upset of Villanova on January 4 by snagging a steal off Big East Player of the Year Josh Hart and finishing with a reverse layup—with impossibly athletic offense, like his behind-the-head-layup in a win at Xavier on February 26.

As he became Butler's biggest impact freshman since Hayward in 2008-09, the Bulldogs surpassed some expectations of their own. Picked to finish sixth in the preseason Big East poll, they wound up in second place, behind only NCAA tournament No. 1 overall seed Villanova.

Though it'd be easy for a player like Baldwin, undersized and under-recruited, to buy into the notion that he and his team are the sleepers in this tournament, he doesn't think about labels.

"I've never thought about myself as an underdog," Baldwin says. "I just love to play, so I play. And anyone who thinks this team is an underdog doesn't know the history of Butler basketball."

---

Milwaukee was too far a drive—or too expensive a flight—for most folks from Winder. But Friday afternoon, Kay and Jamie will drive to Memphis, Tennessee, for the South Regional semifinals to see their boy play in person for the third time this season. And on the road beside them will be Morris, who has coordinated a caravan that will carry 10 of the Apalachee faithful.

"We may not be many from Winder in the stands," Morris says, "but they'll hear us rooting for Kamar. And we plan to stay through Sunday."

Staying through Sunday would mean Baldwin and the Bulldogs knocked out No. 1-seeded North Carolina in the Sweet 16. Analytics and oddsmakers make such a win out to be a long shot, but the road-trippers from Winder are buoyant.

They know Butler has a secret weapon, a player who was an afterthought to blue-chip schools like Carolina but has so far outperformed so many of their 4- and 5-star freshmen. More than anything else, though, they learned long ago that there's no use in setting limits on Kamar Baldwin. They believe his journey to stardom has only just begun.

David Gardner is a staff writer for B/R Mag. Follow him on Twitter: @byDavidGardner.

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Bleacher Report is your one-stop source for March Madness. From the first round to the final buzzer, Bleacher Report has you covered with the latest news and analysis, plus every highlight you can't miss.

The Sweet 16 once again proved elusive for No. 13 seed Middle Tennessee State, as the fourth-seeded Butler Bulldogs ensured the Blue Raiders would have a second consecutive exit in the round of 32 with a 74-65 South Region win Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

ESPN's Lisa Kerney noted the result snuffed out the site's last remaining perfect brackets:

ZERO *perfect* brackets remaining after Middle Tennessee falls to Butler.
(18.8 million brackets submitted)#bracket #marchmadness

— Lisa Kerney (@LisaKerney) March 19, 2017

Middle Tennessee garnered national attention last season for upsetting Michigan State as a No. 15 seed, only to lose to an eventual Final Four team in Syracuse. The Blue Raiders showed upstart potential again this year by knocking off No. 5 seed Minnesota in their opener, but a Butler program that is no stranger to deep tournament runs proved too much to handle.

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish praised Butler head coach Chris Holtmann:

Chris Holtmann got the Butler job on an interim basis in 10/14. He’s made 3 NCAA Tournaments in 3 years and won four NCAA Tournament games.

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 19, 2017

Blue Raiders head coach Kermit Davis has made it a point to make Middle Tennessee into a dangerous, perhaps even Butler-esque mid-major program. While it hasn't quite crossed that hurdle, it's clear the days of teams underestimating Middle Tennessee are long gone. 

Holtmann even went so far as to call the Blue Raiders a "Final Four-caliber team," per IndyStar.com's David Woods. While the Blue Raiders didn't get close to that benchmark, they did put up a good fight.

Butler did well to pick apart Middle Tennessee's various defensive looks with crisp passing and smart shot selection. All eight Butler players scored at least four points, led by Kelan Martin's 19 off the bench. 

When the Blue Raiders failed to close out on shooters from their zone defense, Butler often made them pay with a triple. The Bulldogs ended up shooting 8-of-15 from downtown.

Here's an example of Butler's ability to keep a cool head and find an open man—this time Martin—via NCAA March Madness:

Butler has made 7 of last 9 shots and pushes the lead out to a dozen! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/hQjTCKm8Kk

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2017

Middle Tennessee's high-powered offense ran hot and cold throughout. After topping 80 points in their last five contests, the Blue Raiders' struggles on the perimeter proved to be their downfall.

Giddy Potts, who earned MVP honors in the Conference USA tournament, struggled mightily. He was held scoreless, missing all eight of his field-goal attempts.

Forward JaCorey Williams was a monster for Middle Tennessee, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds, carrying his team through several lean stretches on offense. Fellow forward Reggie Upshaw chipped in with 12, and Antwain Johnson was a sparkplug off the bench with a career-high 19 points. 

There were opportunities for Middle Tennessee to keep its tournament-darling status alive. Butler had an uncharacteristically sloppy game with 10 turnovers in the first 30 minutes, but Middle Tennessee failed to convert them into points.

Butler's bigs got into plenty of foul trouble, especially backup center Nate Fowler, who fouled out with just over 10 minutes remaining. Andrew Chrabascz picked up three fouls, but he had a fine game with 15 points.

The game started slowly for the Blue Raiders, as they struggled to get into a rhythm offensively. Butler had less trouble on the offensive end, sinking six of its first seven three-pointers. But it didn't work up a double-digit lead until late in the first half.

The Blue Raiders found it difficult to get good looks against Butler's energetic defense. WTHR.com's Bob Kravitz enjoyed watching the Bulldogs play without the ball:

Love watching Butler play defense. Such attention to detail. Getting hands on everything. Now lead 25-16, Baldwin going to line for 1.

— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) March 18, 2017

With the Blue Raiders down 13, Williams dragged the team back into the game, scoring six straight points to spark a 9-1 run that closed the deficit to 36-31 by halftime.

Foul trouble for Chrabascz and Tyler Wideman gave Middle Tennessee opportunities to get easy buckets, with Williams and Upshaw cooking down low.  

The other three Blue Raiders starters couldn't support their forwards' efforts, and the absence of Potts' scoring prowess on the perimeter grew more glaring by the minute. BustingBrackets.com's Lukas Harkins noted Butler's sound defensive strategy on Potts: 

Giddy Potts is 0/7. Every time he comes off of a screen and looks to shoot, Kamar Baldwin brings a double team and makes things much harder.

— Lukas Harkins (@hardwiredsports) March 19, 2017

Butler's lead swelled back to double digits by the middle of the second half, but Johnson's and Williams' efforts kept Middle Tennessee from fading. NCAA March Madness provided an example of a gutsy bucket from Johnson:

Middle Tennessee is not going anywhere! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/DF40CsQ9fh

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2017

After watching their lead evaporate over several minutes, Butler broke a long scoring drought on a late three-pointer by Chrabascz, and the Blue Raiders could not get over the hump. The Bulldogs calmly sunk their free throws down the stretch and closed out the game.

Butler will take on the winner of North Carolina-Arkansas on Friday. With Martin providing plenty of points off the bench and the team playing level-headed, composed basketball, it should give its next opponent all it can handle.

Postgame Reaction

Potts shouldered the blame for the loss, per The Tennessean's Joe Rexrode: 

Giddy Potts just went to Reggie Upshaw and Jacorey Williams and said: "My fault" to both. Final, 74-65 Butler, Potts scoreless.

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) March 19, 2017

Kermit Davis said Giddy Potts was "bawling in the bathroom" in the locker room. "I just hate it for him."

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) March 19, 2017

Middle Tennessee was a popular Cinderella pick; perhaps too popular. According to the Journal Gazette, Holtmann didn't appreciate some commentators picking against his team: 

Butler coach Chris Holtmann: "I was reading what people were saying. I had a friend send me a CBS clip saying we weren't good enough."

— JG Sports (@journalgsports) March 19, 2017

Holtmann on people picking Middle Tennessee State to beat Butler: "It absolutely burned me up."

— JG Sports (@journalgsports) March 19, 2017

Should UNC advance to play Butler in the Sweet 16, it's safe to say plenty of people will be picking against the Bulldogs yet again. Against one of the best team's in the nation, its going to take more than bulletin board-type fodder for the Bulldogs to get a winning result. 

During a first-round NCAA tournament matchup Thursday, Winthrop's Keon Johnson burst to the basket in hopes of finishing his one-man transition with a layup. Butler's Tyler Wideman had other ideas.

The Bulldogs forward, who swatted 24 shots during the season, ran down the court and completed a chase-down block which would make LeBron James proud.

An early March Madness upset bid from the No. 13 seed Eagles isn't looking good, as they trail the No. 4 seed Bulldogs at halftime, 41-27.

"Our mountain. Our miracle. Our Moose."

That was Butler's message about former Bulldog Andrew Smith, who died of cancer Tuesday. The phrase highlighted a special video tribute honoring the Academic All-American before the crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse observed a moment of silence ahead of tipoff against St. John's on Saturday.

In addition to the "AS44" patches Butler will wear on its jerseys the remainder of the season, the teams wore "Stay Positive Day" T-shirts during warm-ups:

The video tribute and moment of silence for Andrew Smith today at Hinkle Fieldhouse.... https://t.co/MLMRQbE3sc

— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) January 16, 2016

Smith, who graduated in 2013, helped the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA championship games in 2010 and 2011. He was first diagnosed with cancer in 2014.

[Butler Basketball, h/t CBS Sports]

Joey Brunk will be spending his next four years close to home. The 4-star center prospect announced his commitment to Butler on Sunday, spurning fellow in-state schools Indiana and Purdue and notable national powers like Michigan:

Brunk is considered the No. 89 overall prospect and 13th-ranked center in the Class of 2016, per 247Sports' composite rankings. Last season, he averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, pushing Southport (Indiana) to a 23-3 regular-season record.

While he drew plenty of national attention, Brunk's commitment largely came down to the two big-time Indiana schools. 247Sports' Crystal Ball predictions gave Butler a 100 percent chance of landing Brunk before his commitment, but the predictions wavered back and forth between Butler and Indiana during his recruiting process.

Brunk officially visited Butler earlier this month, his only official visit other than a trip to Oklahoma.

"It was a good visit," Brunk said, per Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star. "It's right down the street essentially for me. I have a good relationship with coach (Chris) Holtmann. I got to visit with (athletic director) Barry Collier. I hung out with the team and got to play in open gym. We went bowling for a little bit. I had a good visit. I felt like I hit if off with the players."

Of course, giving a verbal to Butler now far from locks him into actually playing for the school. He won't be able to sign his name on the dotted line until at least November and will likely keep his options officially open until next April. Given the success Brunk has had on the summer circuit, it's possible he starts drawing more interest as a senior and reopens his recruitment.

For now, though, landing Brunk is a big win for a Butler program still trying to find itself in the post-Brad Stevens era.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter  

It was one of those nights for the No. 22 Butler Bulldogs on Thursday.

After controlling things for most of their Big East tournament quarterfinal tilt against Xavier, Roosevelt Jones and company let the Musketeers hang around and ultimately bricked the bed in overtime.

It was an unfortunate result for a Butler squad looking to reassert itself prior to the NCAA tournament, and the team's mascot didn't fare much better. In what can only be considered foreshadowing, Butler mascot Blue III experienced some troubles on the court prior to tipoff.

After establishing himself in post position (gotta protect the rim), the Bulldog did what dogs sometimes do and cooked up a hot vomelet near the charge circle.

CBS Sports' Matt Norlander chronicled the aftermath. This is what 100 percent effort looks like when pooled on the floor.

Bulter's mascot just vomited on the court. Hahaha! pic.twitter.com/vy4WCe9poR

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 13, 2015

SB Nation's Rodger Sherman reported that Blue just got a little excited.

.@ButlerBlue3's handler says it's Blue's first on-court barf. "It's from sheer excitement." pic.twitter.com/i9keb5WhYU

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 13, 2015

It was definitely the nerves. And the spaghetti. The spaghetti will always get you.

Just call me Rabbit. RT @indieLINDSEY: All I can think about is @ButlerBlue3 rapping to Lose Yourself & eating Mom's spaghetti pre-game.

— Butler Blue III (@ButlerBlue3) March 13, 2015

Blue vowed to puke and rally, and he appeared to bounce back nicely.

Puke and rally. Give me some water. I've got a #BIGEASTtourney game to win. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/Lqxu0o82Un

— Butler Blue III (@ButlerBlue3) March 13, 2015

And I still get the girls. RT @MollyMcGrathFS1: Puke and rally @ButlerBlue3!! pic.twitter.com/jwzkvBD3lO

— Butler Blue III (@ButlerBlue3) March 13, 2015

Well, maybe delay that rally for later.

Puke: literally and figuratively. Rally: the NCAA Tournament awaits. #GoDawgs

— Butler Blue III (@ButlerBlue3) March 13, 2015

Butler would fall 67-61 to Xavier, proving that some nights, you're just not feeling it.

Blue will be back, guys. Dog has the heart of a champion and what appears to be a steady diet of Bisquick. Can't keep this pooch down.

Dan is on Twitter. Dogs gonna dog, guys.

The Butler Bulldogs college basketball team is looking to make a big splash in its second Big East season, but it will have to do so without head coach Brandon Miller for an indefinite amount of time.

According to Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com, the university announced that the 35-year-old coach is taking a medical leave of absence:

Butler announces that head coach Brandon Miller is taking a leave of absence for medical reasons.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) October 2, 2014

In a statement by Butler Vice President and Director of Athletics Barry Collier, courtesy of WTHR Channel 13, the specific reasoning for Miller's hiatus was not revealed.    

"Brandon Miller has requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, which the university has granted," Collier said. "We are not in a position to further elaborate and we ask that everyone respect Brandon's privacy."

Jeff Goodman of ESPN had more insights into Miller's absence:

Sad news of Butler’s Brandon Milller taking leave of absence. Close friends of his told me he has basically been out of contact for months.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 2, 2014

Miller left the business a few years back at assistant at Ohio State for what sources told ESPN were stress-related issues.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 2, 2014

Miller took over as Butler's head coach last season after Brad Stevens departed for the NBA's Boston Celtics. In addition to playing point guard for the Bulldogs from 2000 through 2003, Miller served as an assistant coach at Butler, Ohio State and Illinois.

While Miller had big shoes to fill since Stevens took Butler to the National Championship Game on two occasions, he led the Bulldogs to a record of just 14-17. That coincided with a move from the Horizon League to the Big East, though, so a transitional period was to be expected.

With Miller currently away, assistant coach Chris Holtmann will serve as the interim head coach, according to WTHR Channel 13. Holtmann has previous head coaching experience as he served in that position with Gardner-Webb from 2010 through 2013.

Butler's season starts against Maine on Nov. 15, so the players only have about six weeks to get acclimated to Holtmann being the dominant voice in the huddle.

It remains to be seen if Miller will be able to return at any point during the 2014-15 campaign, but those involved with college basketball are certainly hopeful that Miller is able to overcome whatever ailment he may be dealing with and return to the sidelines as soon as possible.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

If there ever was a perfect time for Brad Stevens to leave the friendly confines of Butler University for a big time job, this was the year. 

After guiding the Bulldogs to a 27-9 record last season, Stevens decided to take a massive career risk and become the head coach of the Boston Celtics. 

With Stevens trading in Butler blue for Celtic green, the powers that be at the small Indiana school decided to keep with tradition and name a familiar face to the head coaching position. 

That familiar face is Brandon Miller, who is a 2003 graduate of Butler who has been an assistant on the Bulldogs staff on two different occasions. 

Miller has a ton of challenges facing him this season as the Bulldogs make the leap from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East Conference. 

Adding to the difficulties of facing a rigorous 18-game conference schedule, which will pin the Bulldogs up against the likes of Creighton and Georgetown, is a titanic injury blow to one of the team's best players from last season. 

Junior forward Roosevelt Jones will be one of three starters from last season not donning a Butler uniform this season, but instead of leaving the collegiate ranks for good like Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith did, Jones will be recovering from a wrist injury that he suffered back in August.

With an emotional and statistical leader in Jones not available for the entire season, Miller has to rely on a batch of newcomers to succeed in his first year in charge. 

The Bulldogs will be returning senior forward Khyle Marshall and junior guard Alex Barlow, but they will have plenty of voids to fill. 

In the backcourt, the absence of Clarke will be felt immensely, especially if we base this off of the time the transfer from Arkansas was out during his final season. 

Clarke, who suffered a concussion against Dayton last season, missed games against Richmond, Gonzaga and La Salle.  In two of those games, the Bulldogs faced a bigger challenge than they expected. 

If they would have had Clarke on the floor at home against Gonzaga, they may not have needed Jones' late-game theatrics, and in the game after that, the Bulldogs fell to La Salle on the road in Philadelphia by a point. 

Both of those games could have easily been won if Clarke and his 16.9 points per game were included in the lineup. 

Barlow and sophomore Kellen Dunham, who combined to produce just over 11 points per game last season, will have to step up and deliver quality performances for the Bulldogs if they want to succeed immediately this season.

Clarke's spectacular shooting from beyond the arc will not be the only thing that the Bulldogs will be looking to replace this season as they also lost the point production of Smith, who averaged 11.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in his senior season. 

Filling the void left by the 6'11" center will be more of a monumental task than replacing Clarke will be. 

The two logical replacements for Smith would be 6'10" freshman Nolan Berry and 6'8" senior Erik Fromm, both of whom lack the experience Smith brought to the table. 

If that was not worrisome enough for Bulldogs fans, their big nonconference games could present some daunting tasks. 

The Bulldogs will be playing in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend where they could potentially run into Marcus Smart and Oklahoma State, as well as the Memphis Tigers. 

Neither of those matchups are appetizing to a Butler program that could have a rough season as it looks to rebuild after losing plenty of key pieces from last season's squad. 

If the new look Bulldogs are able to survive their nonconference schedule, they will have to navigate the treacherous waters of the Big East, which hands them very few easy games. 

The only game in their first month of Big East play that can be labeled as an easy win at this time is the January 9 clash at home with perpetual bottom feeders DePaul. 

Other games included in the first month of Butler's conference slate include road trips to fellow Big East newcomers Xavier and Creighton, and home games against Georgetown and Marquette. 

While it certainly will be an interesting first few months of the Miller era at Butler, we can not assume that the Bulldogs will just fall back into the middle of the pack and not succeed at some point this season.

The Butler basketball program is a very proud one and there is no way that Miller will let the Bulldogs fail miserably, but there certainly will be some speed bumps and growing pains along the way as they make their maiden voyage into the Big East. 

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