This year’s team:

• 26-8 overall record
• 6^th NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in seven years and the 11^th in 17 years.
• 18-18 overall NCAA tournament record.
• No. 6 seed was the third highest in Butler history. The only higher ones were No. 5 seeds in 2007 and 2010.
• Has never lost to a lower seed in the tournament.
• There are three players on the Butler roster that have played in a national championship game: Andrew Smith, Chase Stigall and Khyle Marshall
• Was 4-0 against RPI Top 20 teams and 6-6 against RPI Top 50 teams.
• Had zero losses outside of the RPI Top 100
• Has had nine different players start this season
• Two Geico Player of the Year finalists in Alex Barlow with his shot against Indiana and Roosevelt Jones’ game winner against Gonzaga
• The top three wins by Butler this season against Indiana, Gonzaga and Marquette were decided by a combined four points
• As a team averages: 69.3 points, 34.8 percent 3-point shooting, 68.9 percent free throw shooting, 36.6 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 13.4 turnovers, 5.7 steals and 2.4 blocks per game
• As a team allows: 63.8 points, 41.8 percent opponent field goal shooting and 33.3 percent 3-point field goal shooting per game.

Brad Stevens:

• Has an 11-4 NCAA tournament record as head coach
• Butler has had six Top 10 wins with Stevens as coach
• Has moved into the top spot on the NCAA Division I list for best career coaching starts by wins in six seasons, with a record of 165-48. He hold the NCAA three, four and five-year record.

Rotnei Clarke

• Butler is 10-1 when Clarke scores 20 or more points per game
• He leads the team averaging 16.7 points per game
• Has scored 518 points this season
• He is first on the team in free-throw shooting, with an average of 88.6 percent
• Is third in Butler history for single-season 3-point field goals with 108
• Has scored in double-figures in all but five games he’s played in this season
• He missed three games after suffering a severe neck sprain at Dayton in January.
• Is a member of the Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference
• Scored a season-high 27 points in the loss to Illinois during the championship game of the Maui Invitational.

Andrew Smith

• He is the only player in the country to have played in two national championship games
• Is Butler’s second-leading scorer averaging 11.1 points per game
• He and Roosevelt Jones lead the team in rebounding averaging 5.7 rebounds per game
• Smith is a finalist of the Lowes Senior Class Award, was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team and is an Academic All-American

Roosevelt Jones

• Jones is the only Butler player to start in all 34 games this season.
• He is one of three Butler players averaging in double-figure scoring with 10.1 points per game
• He averages 30.4 minutes per game, second-most on the team.
• He leads the team in assists with 3.5 per game
• Jones is a member of the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team

Khyle Marshall

• Butler is 15-1 when Marshall scores in double-figures
• He averages 9.9 points per game
• Shooting 56.4 percent from the field, he is second on the team in field goal percentage
• Marshall averages 4.7 rebounds per game

Kellan Dunham

• Made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team
• He averages 9.9 points per game
• He shoots 38.2 percent from the field and 87.1 percent from the free throw line

Kameron Woods

• Has scored in double figures four times this season, three coming in the last five games. Butler has won all four of those games
• He leads the team in field goal shooting percentage with 56.9 percent
• Woods is averaging 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 points per game

Alex Barlow

• Has started 21 games this season for the Bulldogs.  The team is 17-4 in those games and 8-3 when he comes in off the bench
• Averages 43.1 percent field goal shooting
• Has 66 assists this season, averaging two per game
• He has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team with 1.7

Erik Fromm

• Averages 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game
• He had a season-high 13 points in the loss at Charlotte

Chase Stigall

• Stigall is a 77.8 percent free-throw shooter
• He averages 10.6 minutes, most of the time coming off the bench. He has started in three games for the Bulldogs this season
• Stigall has a season-high 12 points in the 77-58 win at St. Bonaventure

The Butler men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Wednesday night, losing 71-67 to Charlotte at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Junior forward Erik Fromm started in place of senior center Andrew Smith who suffered an abdominal injury during last Saturday’s game against George Washington.

The Bulldogs’ (20-5, 7-3) shooters struggled in the first half, shooting only 18.2 percent from behind the three-point line and 33.3 percent from the field.

Sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones was the first half’s leading scorer and rebounder with nine points and five rebounds.

Senior guard Rotnei Clarke scored only three points in the first half, going one-for-five from beyond the arc.

The 49ers (18-6, 6-4) took a 29-27 lead to halftime after a layup at the buzzer by Charlotte guard Pierria Henry was waived off by officials, then ruled good, then waived off again.

Butler struggled inside in the second half as they missed several scoring opportunities close to the basket.

The Bulldogs were outscored in the paint 38-24.

Charlotte was ahead by as many as 10 points, with 4:26 to play in regulation.

However, Clarke would finally find his rhythm in the final minutes of the game, scoring 15 of his 18 points in the final 3:21.

A Clarke 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds remaining brought the score to 68-67 and the Bulldogs found themselves within a point of the 49ers for the first time since the 16:23 mark in the second half.

Jones then fouled Henry who went to the line and made his first free throw. Senior guard Chase Stigall grabbed the rebound after Henry missed his second attempt and coach Brad Stevens called timeout with three seconds remaining.

Following the timeout, Charlotte senior forward E. Victor Nickerson stole Stigall’s inbounds pass to end Butler’s chance for a victory.

“It would have been, probably, a disservice for Butler to win that game,” Stevens said. “I thought Charlotte was great. I knew Charlotte coming in was going to be really hard for us to matchup with, in large part because their strengths are certainly something that we counter better with Andrew (Smith) than without.”

Stevens said he will not know what adjustments he will make going into this Saturday’s contest at Fordham until he watches film of the Charlotte game.

“We started Fromm and (freshman guard) Kellen (Dunham), obviously, and we thought that, everything we had suggested that with Andrew out, Fromm and Kellen are a good combination, and so we went with that,” Stevens said. “I felt relatively good about the way our starters played, for the most part. Not everybody but most of the starting lineup. And I think that’ll probably be similar Saturday, I don’t know that we’ll start exactly the same.”

The Bulldogs’ bench was held scoreless against the 49ers’ defense.

Fromm said he knew he had to rise to the challenge of starting in place of Smith.

“In terms of defense, I feel like we have guys that are capable and guys that are willing and able to step in, especially in big games, in a home game when you have someone who’s not there,” Fromm said. “You can’t think of excuses for a guy being gone. You have to take it to the chest and say this is my duty now, this is my game, I need to fill in where Andrew’s going to be gone and we’re just going to play the way we always play and that’s the way we need to think about it until Andrew comes back.

The Bulldogs will still be without Smith for this Saturday’s game in New York.

The game at Fordham tips off at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Two simple words. “Stay Positive.”

Butler University junior Eric Day takes them to heart. So much so that he has started a campaign with wristbands featuring those words.

Day learned he had brain cancer in December 2010, and during treatment at Jill’s House in 2011, a little girl named Allison helped him go through radiation. Everyday she told him to “stay positive.”

Day said he followed her instructions through the end of his treatment last March and beyond. Upon leaving Jill’s, Allison sent him a card. At the bottom she signed it, “Stay positive.”

Last fall he began a campaign with rubber wristbands bearing those words. He also took advice from Butler senior basketball player Rotnei Clarke and added his “G3” motto, standing for “give God glory.”

The wristbands circulated a little bit on campus all year but really began to gain attention recently when junior basketball player Erik Fromm was wearing one during an interview regarding the recent loss of his father.

Leonard Fromm died of cancer the morning of Feb. 2, hours before Butler’s game against Rhode Island.

Fromm, a friend of Day, said he has supported the cause since he first heard about it.

“There’s always a lot of people that are worse off than you,” Fromm said. “Like I said on the news, there’s a lot of silver linings. With my dad, I got to spend an extra seven months with him.”

Fromm said he knows he could have spent more time with his father, but it would have been very difficult for him and his family to watch him continue to suffer.

There is a Facebook group called “Stay Positive Wristbands” that is helping the cause in its early stages. The group has reached more than 400 “likes” as of press time.

Day said the main goal of the organization is to help give people a positive outlook on daily life.

“We just help every person we can, and give them a positive outlook and remind them of the daily reminders that there’s somebody worse off,” Day said.

Fromm said he is currently going through a process to become a part of the organization due to NCAA policies.

If he is cleared to do so, the two hope to eventually make it a national organization and become recognized as their own foundation.

All proceeds will be donated to cancer research, Day said.

Day already has plans reaching far outside Indianapolis.

“We have a story a newspaper in Chicago wants to do,” Day said. “One lady from Texas has ordered 100 bands. In St. Louis, some lady wanted 50.”

Despite going through a long process, Fromm remains optimistic on becoming involved.

“If I’m cleared, then I’ll be a part of it too,” Fromm said. “Eric’s still going to do it, and all the money will go to cancer research.”

Day said he can foresee his project reaching stages as prominent as the NBA and NFL.

“We’re hoping to hook up with Shelvin Mack and (Gordon) Hayward, and I’m also close with the Harbaugh brothers,” Day said.

“ESPN loves peoples’ stories, so when we get to the tournament, they’ll hear my story, and then they’ll talk about the bands, and it could be a countrywide thing,” Fromm said.

Day said they cannot currently sell the wristbands on campus because they are not a recognized student organization.

Clarke spoke at a student-led church service last Sunday and mentioned the wristbands.

Austin Weaver, Converge president, said the wristbands will likely be available at this week’s service Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Johnson Room at Robertson Hall.

After tonight’s men’s basketball game against St. Bonaventure, Butler will officially be halfway through its inaugural season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Bulldogs currently sit in second place in the A-10 standings, with an overall record of 18-4 and a conference record of 5-2.

The two conference losses have come against La Salle on a last-second shot at the end of regulation on Jan. 23 and against Saint Louis on Jan. 31.

Virginia Commonwealth sits at the top of the conference standings with a conference record of 6-2.

Just one game in the loss column separates the top nine teams in the A-10 standings. Only the top 12 go on to the A-10 tournament in March.

The A-10 currently has 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, according to RPIRatings.com, second most of any league behind the Big East (13).

Butler is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25. That marks the eighth consecutive week for Butler in the Top 25.

The A-10 has six other teams that have received votes in the AP, ESPN and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Temple and Xavier have all gotten votes in both polls. La Salle and VCU both received votes in last week’s polls.

Butler’s current seniors are 51-8 in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs have five of their final nine contests on their home court.

BUTLER PLAYERS TO WATCH

Rotnei Clarke­—The senior guard leads his team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game.

He has scored in double figures 15 times this season.

Clarke is one of 50 players named in the Atlanta Tipoff Club 2012-13 Naismith Early Season Watch List.

Khyle Marshall—The junior forward averages 10.2 points per game, one of five Butler players averaging double figures in scoring.

Marshall also averages five rebounds per game, third best on the team.

Butler is 12-0 this season when Marshall scores in double-figures.

Roosevelt Jones—The sophomore forward has averaged 10.6 points per game on the season, including 13.3 points over the last 10 games.

Jones leads the Bulldogs in rebounds with 5.5 per game.

He also leads the team in assists with 3.6 per game.

Andrew Smith—The senior center is the only active collegiate player to have played in two national championship games.

He is the second-leading scorer for Butler, averaging 11.5 points per game.

Smith became the 34th Butler player to score 1,000 career points during the recent win against Rhode Island.

Kellen Dunham—The freshman guard is averaging 10.6 points per game and 12.4 in Hinkle.

He leads the A-10 and ranks fourth in the NCAA Division I in free throws, shooting at 92.1 percent.

Alex Barlow—The sophomore guard  has started in 15 games for the Bulldogs this season.

He is leading his team with more than one steal per game.

Erik Fromm—The junior guard is averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

The Butler men’s basketball team hosts St. Bonaventure tonight at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Bonnies have an overall record of 10-10 and are 3-4 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

St. Bonaventure won last year’s A-10 tournament, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Bonnies lost to Florida State 66-63 in the first round of the national tournament.

On Saturday evening, Butler beat Rhode Island 75-68 in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,000 at Hinkle.

The Bulldogs (18-4, 5-2) were led by senior guard Rotnei Clarke’s game-high 23 points.

The Rams (6-14, 1-6) pulled out to an early lead that held for the majority of the first half.

The Rams’ lead eventually began to evaporate, and a Clarke 3-pointer tied the game at 28 with 5:03 remaining in the first half.

Butler went on an 18-3 run in the first six minutes of the second half to grab a 48-35 advantage, the largest lead of the game for either team.

The Rams began to catch up late, creeping to within four points with 1:45 remaining in the game.

Butler had a 72-68 lead with 27 seconds remaining when Clarke was fouled. He made one of two foul shots to put the game away for the Bulldogs.

Junior forward Erik Fromm did not play and was not in attendance after his father, Len, died of cancer Saturday morning.

A moment of silence was observed before the game in memory of Len Fromm.

“I think what you learn is you don’t spend a lot of time on basketball,” coach Brad Stevens said of playing after learning of Len Fromm’s passing. “This is what happened. What can you do to be a supportive person?

“Let’s try to make each other proud with our effort even though it’s hard to really focus on that task.”

Alex Barlow hit a tear-drop layup with less than three seconds remaining in overtime, and the Butler men’s basketball team shocked No. 1 Indiana 88-86 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Saturday.

The game was the first of two in the second Crosstown Classic.

“My initial thoughts were we were in trouble when it was 84-80 with three guys sitting on the bench next to me,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “Such a gutty effort by our guys. Don’t use this as an excuse to get down on Indiana.”

With about 19 seconds remaining in the game, the score was tied at 86 and Barlow moved the ball upcourt off an inbound pass. He let some time tick off the clock, then drove it straight into the paint, twisting and turning as he released the floater. It bounced around the rim and eventually fell with 2.5 seconds remaining.

“I was looking for the options, and they weren’t open,” Barlow said. “I saw the clock at about six (seconds), so I figured I’d try to make a play.

“The floater is a shot I work on a lot, and I just happened to get a lucky bounce.”

Indiana called a timeout to draw up their final play, but senior guard Jordan Hulls was unable to connect from near half court as time expired.

The Bulldogs (8-2) played all of the overtime frame without senior center Andrew Smith and sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones, who both fouled out in regulation.

Many of Butler’s key players struggled with foul trouble all afternoon. In addition to Smith and Jones, junior forward Erik Fromm fouled out during the overtime period. Barlow had tallied four by the end of the contest.

The game started at a slow pace, which played into Butler’s hands. The Hoosiers (9-1) scored the first points of the game nearly two minutes in.

The Bulldogs grabbed an early 9-5 advantage with four points from Jones and a 3-point basket from Smith.

Indiana moved in front 13-12 on a dunk by junior guard Victor Oladipo with 11:38 remaining in the half. Butler would not lead again until the 5:54 mark of the second half.

Indiana led 37-33 at halftime, spurred by nearly 44 percent shooting from the field and 12 free throw attempts to Butler’s four.

The Bulldogs shot better than 39 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but they struggled to contain Oladipo, who tallied 10 points in that time.

While the Hoosiers’ defense did a good job containing senior guard Rotnei Clarke in the first half (six points), Jones was all over the court. He posted eight points, eight rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes of action.

“I thought it was hard for them to guard Roosevelt, really hard,” Stevens said. “With all due respect to everyone else on the court, I thought he was the best player on the floor when he was on the floor. When that ball went up to the rim, he found ways to get it on both ends of the floor.”

Clarke credited Oladipo with attempting a different type of defense while guarding him.

“Most guys will stay below me, but Oladipo went high and kind of denied me, trying not to let me touch the ball,” Clarke said. “It was my teammates in the second half.”

The Bulldogs trailed 57-50 after senior forward Christian Watford hit a free throw with nine minutes remaining.

Butler began its push toward regaining the lead after the converted free throw. The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 59-56. Smith then made a pair of layups, sandwiched around a 3-point basket from Dunham.

Stigall then drained a 3-pointer to push Butler to a 66-59 lead.

The Hoosiers did not hit a field goal between a 3-pointer by junior forward Will Sheehey at the 11:24 mark and a layup by sophomore guard Remy Abell at the 3:43 mark.

Up 71-64 with 2:25 remaining, Butler attempted to fend off a push by Indiana. The Hoosiers pulled to within two with 1:14 remaining at 71-69.

Dunham made one of two free throws — the miss was only his second of the season — on the next possession to give Butler a three-point lead. Freshman guard Yogi Farrell then committed a turnover with 49 seconds remaining, after which Dunham was fouled again. This time, he sank both free throw attempts to put Butler up 74-69.

Farrell made a layup on IU’s next possession, and Oladipo used a full court press to steal the ball from Dunham on the ensuing inbound pass. Oladipo made a layup to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one.

Barlow was fouled on the next possession and made a pair of free throws, giving Butler a 76-73 lead.

Indiana gave the ball to Farrell on offense, and he responded by sinking a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left to tie the game.

Butler senior guard Chase Stigall attempted a 3-point shot of his own on the final possession of regulation, but he was unable to convert.

“We had a timeout left, but as he was dribbling down the court, I didn’t see us getting a better look than that,” Stevens said.

Butler shot nearly 52 percent from the field in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to put away the Hoosiers just yet. Indiana hit 18 of 24 free throw opportunities in the second half to stave off defeat in regulation.

The Bulldogs entered overtime without Smith and Jones, who both fouled out in the final two minutes of regulation. They also went into extra time with Barlow and Fromm both sitting on four fouls.

“Proud of your effort, keep it going,” Stevens said of his message to the team heading into overtime. “We switched a ton of ball screens. We didn’t feel like we wanted to give that up on those guys.”

The Hoosiers took an 84-80 lead with 2:14 remaining in overtime after a layup by sophomore forward Cody Zeller. The Bulldogs would not be denied, however, as Clarke and Stigall sank back-to-back 3′s after the Zeller basket to give Butler an 86-84 advantage.

Zeller made another basket with 23 seconds remaining to knot the game up at 86, setting the stage for Barlow’s dramatics.

It was Butler’s first victory over a No. 1 team in the regular season. The Bulldogs posted their fifth consecutive victory overall and their sixth straight at Bankers Life.

“I told Rotnei, you didn’t come here to win a game in December,” Stevens said. “As a coach, I’d like to have Xavier and Illinois back, but I’m not going to be greedy.”

Jones called the victory “a good confidence boost,” but said the Bulldogs are aware of their ability.

“We already know how good we are and how good we can be,” Jones said. “So we just want to prepare for Evansville and get ready to play hard again another game.”

Clarke finished with a game-high 19 points on 7 of 19 shooting, including 5 of 11 from beyond the arc. Clarke, who is in his first season with Butler, played all but a few possessions in the contest.

“I think it’s work ethic,” Clarke said of his ability to play for long stretches. “Just going into the gym every night and shooting game-like shots and doing game-like things has really prepared me for this.”

Jones had a game-high 12 rebounds and tallied 16 points in 29 minutes. Smith finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while junior forward Khyle Marshall and Fromm also reached double figures in scoring.

Oladipo was Indiana’s offensive sparkplug, tallying 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He also had four steals and a pair of blocks.

“Oladipo is just a hard guy to play against,” Stevens said. “We walked out of our locker room, I turned to (assistant coach) Matthew Graves and said ‘I’ve never seen a guy that athletic.’”

Zeller also recorded 18 points, although 10 of them came from the free throw line. Sheehey (13), Ferrell (12) and Watford (10) all posted double-figure points as well.

Butler outrebounded Indiana 40-38, including a 24-17 advantage at halftime. The Hoosiers turned the ball over just one time outside of Oladipo and Ferrell, who each had six turnovers.

The Bulldogs will now prepare for Evansville, whom they’ve lost to in overtime each of the last two seasons. This season’s contest will happen at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2:00 Saturday.

“Ready to go,” Clarke said. “We’ll enjoy this one today, but we’ll get prepared and be ready for them.”

Showing it was not completely dependent on senior guard Rotnei Clarke, the Butler men’s basketball team stormed past IUPUI 87-55 yesterday.

Clarke did not score until the 8:37 mark of the first half, but the Bulldogs (6-2) had already built a 26-6 lead.

Butler’s defense stymied the Jaguars (3-7), as it took them more than nine minutes to get past the two-point mark.

“Obviously I thought we were strong offensively the majority of the game,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “I thought we were really good defensively the first 13 minutes of the game.”

Five different Bulldogs connected from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, including senior center Andrew Smith, who hit his second of the season.

Two 3-point baskets by junior forward Erik Fromm on back-to-back possessions midway through the half brought the crowd to its feet.

“In our system, our forwards are open a lot, especially with Rotnei and Kellen and Chase all very capable shooters,” Fromm said. “Part of being prepared to shoot the wide open shots is getting in the gym.”

Butler carried a 52-21 advantage into the locker room behind 12 points each from Clarke and freshman guard Kellen Dunham.

The Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the field and 3-point line in the first half. The Jaguars shot a respectable 41 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but only junior forward Donovan Gibbs had more than five points.

“Not to be too obvious, but the start was not what we had in the cards,” IUPUI coach Todd Howard said. “I was very pleased with our second half. I thought, to battle the way we did, guys competed.”

In the second half, Butler outscored IUPUI by just one point, but the Jaguars were never able to truly threaten the Bulldogs’ lead.

“I thought we had two good days of practice,” Stevens said.

Butler finished with five players in double figures and 11 players with at least two points.

Clarke and Dunham each tallied a game-high 17 points. Smith added 11 points, while Fromm and junior forward Khyle Marshall both recorded 10 points.

Dunham actually came off the bench in the first half, as Stevens opted to start sophomore guard Alex Barlow instead.

“We talked about that with Kellen and obviously his minutes aren’t going to deviate,” Stevens said. “We said, ‘let’s see if this will be a better fit for us.’”

While Butler outrebounded IUPUI 29-21, Smith, Marshall and sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones combined for just one board.

Gibbs and junior center Mitchell Patton led the Jaguars with 10 points apiece. Gibbs also tallied a team-high six rebounds and three assists.

Butler will now prepare for two consecutive games against Big 10 opponents. The first will see the Bulldogs travel to Northwestern Saturday.

The Wildcats (7-2) are coming off a stunning 74-70 victory over Baylor on the road earlier this week.

“Watched the whole game,” Stevens said. “I watched a little bit more of that than I usually do so that I have a good feel when I talk to the team.”

Butler athletes spend most of their time in the classroom or on their respective playing surfaces, but they still find time to give back to the community.

For decades, Butler student- athletes have left campus to represent their teams in another way: through community service.

“I don’t want to say you’re in a bubble here,” said Darnell Archey, coordinator of basketball operation for the men’s basketball team. “But seeing just 10 blocks from here, there are people in need, it really opens (the guys’) eyes. I know it opened mine.”

Archey, a Butler graduate and once the all-time leader on Butler’s 3-point field goal list, is in the same boat as most of the men on coach Brad Stevens’ team.

“It definitely opens your eyes to how fortunate we are and how much we have to be thankful for,” junior guard Erik Fromm said.

Men’s basketball players branch out through various organizations, doing activities like reading to kids, working in food banks during school holidays and speaking in schools about what it really takes to become a collegiate athlete.

They also volunteer as an entire team at a soup kitchen every year.

“At the soup kitchen they all come in and a lot of them, you wouldn’t even know they go there because they’re so happy and optimistic,” Fromm said.  “You can see how strong they are. It’s really neat.

“And for the kids, you remember back when you were in middle school and how when you saw a high schooler or college student, your eyes just lit up because you thought it was so cool. It really reminds me of the importance to always set a good example and do the right thing.”

Another group leading community service on campus is the women’s soccer team, which begins its volunteer work before most students even step foot on campus for the school year.

“We come to school three weeks before school starts,” said senior Claire Milam, a defender on the team. “We practice, we eat—what else is there to do?

“We try and give back, especially within our sport.”

Along with cleaning up the community, assisting with packaging goods at local food banks and helping out at local events, the team hosts a group of Special Olympics athletes through TOPsoccer, a division of Indiana Youth Soccer. For the past three years—even during the fall season —the group has come to campus once a week to get to know the team while enjoying friendly competition at the Butler Bowl.

“When you play a sport in college it becomes so much like a job, you sometimes forget why you first fell in love with it. It brings us so much joy to see soccer bring others joy,” Milam said.

“(Volunteering) really reminds us why we play.”

In the chaotic world of a student- athlete, there is an assembly of other college athletes striving to keep everything in sync.

This is the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

The committee, made up of student-athletes and designed to provide insight on the student-athlete experience throughout the nation, is comprised of men and women from every school in every division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It is required by NCAA legislation.

According to the SAAC handbook, the committee was formed to offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affects student-athlete well-being.

The Butler SAAC’s main job is to represent Butler student-athletes in the NCAA governmental structure.

“They’re really the voice of athletics from the student-athlete side,” said Sonya Hopkins, coordinator of academic support at Butler. “They bring forth issues that pertain to them both as students and as athletes to be shared and discussed with administration, because sometimes we really don’t know what they’re dealing with.”

Comprised of students seen as leaders on their respective teams, members are entrusted with being able to communicate with higher-ups, not only on the conference-level, but the national level as well.

“They’re charged with providing feedback to conference officials, particularly with regards to NCAA rules,” Hopkins said. “They talk a lot about national litigation, issues that seem to be consistent across the board with regards to what athletes deal with.

“But they’re also involved with organizing community service activities, as teams, groups and individuals.”

Current Butler SAAC president Jared Isenthal, a senior on the men’s soccer team, oversees the four major subcommittees on campus.

The SAAC awards committee works with student-athletes to nominate and showcase their teammates. The operations committee focuses on outreach and opportunities on campus.

The marketing committee spreads word of events being held and obtains information and statistics on how to better serve student-athletes.

The community service and outreach committee is dedicated to giving back to the community through events like a holiday toy drive and other volunteer work.

“We’ve really been put in a position to promote ourselves on-campus,” said Isenthal, who calls Butler’s SAAC the voice of student -athletes and said it’s an honor to be on the committee.

“We advocate more availability for student-athletes. The whole student-athlete body is important to me,” Isenthal said.

In addition to the litigation and community outreach the SAAC does, there are also smaller, though no less important, contributions that are consistently made.

Most recently, teams were granted 24-hour access to Hinkle Fieldhouse with a swipe of their university ID cards.

Junior men’s basketball player Erik Fromm, who is now chair of the operations committee, said one of the  SAAC’s next goals is to get parking passes for senior athletes living off campus.

“We just try to figure out how to make our experience the best possible,” Fromm said. “We serve as a voice for student-athletes. We have events, like the student athlete social and the SAAC awards, which gets more people involved.

“But we’re not really striving for recognition—we just want to look out for the other athletes.”

The Butler athletics department is still waiting to hear whether it is compliant with Title IX.

Title IX is legislation that is meant to ensure equal opportunity in athletics for women.

Last May, the university entered into a resolution agreement with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education to become Title IX compliant.

Butler had a Sept. 1 deadline to provide documentation that it was in compliance and treating all athletes equally.

Beth Goetz, associate athletic director for administration, said the report has been submitted, and the athletics department is now waiting for a decision from the Office for Civil Rights.

“We believe that we are in compliance,” Goetz said. “But if they find we aren’t, we are going to take the necessary steps to correct it.”

The Office for Civil Rights considers the situation an open case with the documents still in review. As a result, the office cannot discuss the specifics of the case or any findings to this point, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Education.

The Office for Civil Rights requested information about participation numbers and financial aid.

During the 2010-11 school year, women made up 59.6 percent of Butler’s full-time undergraduate students and only 36.5 percent of athletes.

At the same time, women athletes received 53.4 percent of the department’s financial aid.

Title IX requires that the ratio of women in sports is substantially proportionate to the undergraduate enrollment.

In a situation where these numbers are not proportionate, the university can demonstrate compliance in other ways.

“Those numbers demonstrate we are not meeting the standard,” Goetz said. “But we believe our non-discriminatory factors, when considered, deem us as compliant.”

The athletics department evaluates gender equality on a regular basis. Multiple internal reviews and an outside study by Ice Miller have been conducted to validate the findings.

“We believe we offer every sport in which there is an interest and ability on campus,” Goetz said.

She said that this is the reason the department believes the Office for Civil Rights will determine that Butler is Title IX compliant.

Regardless of the numbers, Erik Fromm, junior men’s basketball player and member of the student athlete advisory council, said that the treatment of the athletes has always been equal.

“I’m just one person, and I don’t know all the numbers,” Fromm said, “but it’s never been a question of equality, not in athletics and not in academics.”

In her four years of experience, Devin Brierly, graduate student and basketball and softball player, said there was no indication of unfair treatment between males and females because of gender.

“We have always been treated very fair when it came to everything, whether it was trips and equipment or something else,” Brierly said. “It was going to be different with men’s basketball, but that’s because of what they accomplished, not anything else.”

In the 2011 fiscal year, the Office for Civil Rights received a total of 7,841 complaints about Title IX violations across the country, according to a U.S. Department of Education spokesman.

Only six of those complaints found an institution to be in violation of Title IX.

The athletics department asked why it was under review, and Goetz said it was told it was random review.

The Office for Civil Rights confirmed this and said it is trying to be proactive in guaranteeing equality for all athletes by initiating compliance reviews.

There is no official timeline for a decision from the Office for Civil Rights regarding Butler’s compliance, but Goetz said the department will continue to take the matter seriously.

“We want to provide every opportunity for every student-athlete that we can,” Goetz said. “Even without Title IX, we want to make sure everyone is treated equally and fairly.”