Hinkle Fieldhouse appears void of activity to the outside observer after dark. But for Rotnei Clarke, nights in Hinkle hardly lack action.

On any given night, one can find the senior guard shooting and working on his game in a nearly deserted Hinkle Fieldhouse. Apart from an occasional security guard or maintenance worker, Clarke normally practices without an audience.

Every night possible, Clarke is at Hinkle shooting until he makes between 350 and 400 shots. Clarke said those shots range from 3-pointers and free throws to all types of possible in-game shots.

Vicki Devine, lead general services assistant at Hinkle, said Clarke almost always makes an appearance whenever she is working late.

This work ethic didn’t come overnight for Clarke.

“I’ve done these workouts ever since I can remember,” Clarke said. “Going back to third or fourth grade, I would work with my dad on ball handling and shooting drills.”

Clarke also said his faith keeps him motivated to go in each night and put in the work necessary to succeed.

“I know that God has blessed me with a gift that I don’t want to go to waste,” Clarke said. “It’s a blessing to be alive, and I’m really playing for him.”

Clarke said the neck injury he sustained against Dayton earlier this season broke his routine for a week or two, but it hasn’t really stopped him.

If anything, he said it reinforced his desire to get the most out of his abilities while he is able to do so.

Clarke has had a remarkable season for Butler, averaging more than 16 points per game and shooting nearly 43 percent on 3’s and 88 percent from the free-throw line.

Amid his collegiate success, Clarke said any thoughts of playing professionally could wait.

“I’m really just focused on this season right now,” Clarke said. “I’m trying to finish strong with the guys and coaching staff I’m with. I’ll worry about what comes next after the season is over with.”

With the calendar turned to March and the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaching, Clarke believes strongly in the team’s chances to make a run this postseason.

“I think we can make a deep run, (and) we’ve shown throughout the season we can play with anyone,” Clarke said. “It depends on how we play each night, but anything can happen.”

After an eight-month period that involved crews tuck-pointing 282,000 bricks and replacing 9,734 windowpanes with energy-efficient glass, construction efforts will begin  on the interior of Hinkle Fieldhouse.

As Hinkle approaches it’s 85th birthday this spring, work on new student-athlete facilities is set to begin. A larger conditioning room, a new sports medicine center and a total remodel of existing locker rooms  are slated to be added.

Having raised more than $13 million since the “Campaign for Hinkle Fieldhouse”  kicked off publicly last November,  Mike Freeman, associate athletic director, said the university has been pleasantly surprised with the outpouring of nationwide support for the iconic building.

“Hinkle Fieldhouse is such a unique building, so we expected a certain amount of help from what might be considered non-traditional donors,” he said. “We are still getting people on board, but we have had a good amount of support from other groups.”

Fundraising efforts are set to conclude Dec. 31 this year.

A lot of excitement among players is coming from the new academic center for student-athletes —the first of its kind at Butler.

Freshman women’s basketball guard Blaire Langlois believes the center will inspire a better sense of camaraderie among student- athletes.

“Right now we just have ours in our locker room for basketball, and other sports have different places,” Langlois said. “So to have somewhere that all of the athletes can meet is going to be really great for all the athletes at Butler.”

Freeman said improvements focusing on the fan experience are also on the calendar for sometime in 2014, the highlight being a new scoreboard with video playback capabilities, as well as improved seating, restrooms and concessions.

“(These) options will be great updates for our fans,” Freeman said.

From blisters and concussions to full-blown bone snaps and neurological injuries, there’s a lot that can go wrong with the human body that might stop an athlete from competing.

Luckily, Butler athletes have a top-notch prevention and recovery system if anything happens to go south.

Butler sports medicine, which has a little training room lodged between the men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms in Hinkle Fieldhouse, provides illness and injury

Collegian file photo

prevention, assessment, treatment and rehab to every student-athlete on campus.

Its headquarters—while appearing relatively average as a 20 by 20 room—is actually the home base for every Butler athlete who has ever had any sort of ache or pain.

The staff consists of head athletic trainer Ryan Galloy, associate trainers Missy Schultz and Chris Tinkey, and assistant trainers Tiffany Franklin, Allegra Lucia and Mike Howell.

Team physicians provided by St. Vincent Sports Performance also assist.

Becca Bornhorst, a senior basketball player, is just one example of someone who is no stranger to the training room crew.

Bornhorst said athletic training doesn’t get much better than Butler sports medicine.

“The training room staff is awesome,” Bornhorst said. “They’re so supportive, and they actually help you. And they’re really good at communicating with the coaches.”

Bornhorst has had her fair share of injuries throughout her career, particularly at Butler. Women’s basketball coach Beth Couture has to know exactly what Bornhorst can and can’t do in practice.

But this season is a little different. Bornhorst made the decision to sit the bench, opting for what she hopes is a better situation for her body long-term.

Over winter break, she was meant to head to Chicago for surgery to have a brand new meniscus, articular cartilage and possibly a new ACL put in one of her knees. But a lack of eligible graft availability has left the process at a standstill.

Chicago Bulls’ head doctor Brian Cole—whom Bornhorst was referred to by SVSP physicians—will eventually lead the operation.

But when she’s in Indy, it’s Butler and St. Vincent’s who are in charge.

“I feel like all the athletes here (at Butler) get cared for really well,” she said. “I work a lot with Missy and Ryan and they’ve helped me through, gosh, so much.

“Sometimes you aren’t dealt the best cards, but sometimes you just have to deal with it.”

Some injuries are just a little too complicated for the training room staff, but most times, there are simply too many injured athletes for the staff to handle.

“We’re here to assist the Butler athletic trainers as needed,” said Jon Grant, outreach manager and certified athletic trainer at SVSP. “It’s one big, happy family.”

Grant says SVSP is really an add-on to what the trainers at Butler do and the athletes and coaches from the school have all been easy to work with.

“Because we see athletes from all over the world,” he said, “you might have athletes that seek (us) out on their own.”

And for good reason: SVSP serves 63 of the athletes who competed in the Olympics in London this summer, with 32 of them bringing home medals.

However, the main team healing Butler athletes is back in Hinkle.

From tapings to laser-light therapy to emergency care, the athletic trainers are able to provide the majority of the services needed from right here on campus.

Fortunately, they also travel to most sporting events.

Consider senior basketball player Rotnei Clarke’s close call with disaster: Both Butler trainers and SVSP staff were at his side, offering on-scene aid to the Bulldog star during what head coach Brad Stevens called “the worst eight minutes of (his) career.”

Schultz said all of the trainers travel and are involved with a large portion of the university teams, but each trainer has a focus team that he or she works with consistently.

She also said the main issue on the trainers’ end is communication.

“Every coach likes to have information presented to them differently,” Schultz said. “But so long as we’re communicating, and as long as we adapt, there really haven’t been any issues. As a whole, the athletics department works well together.”

Shultz said Butler likes what it provides to the school.

“They work with elite athletes —that’s what they’re known for,” she said. “So it’s a pretty good fit for a Division I program like Butler.”

Rotnei Clarke picked up right where he left off.

The senior guard led the Butler men’s basketball team with 24 points in its 83-71 win against Temple.

Clarke received a roaring welcome from the sellout crowd of 10,000 at Hinkle FIeldhouse during introductions of the starting lineups.

The Owls (13-6, 2-3) were led out of the gate by senior guard Khalif Wyatt who led the team with 22 points, 16 coming in the first half.

Temple held the led over the Bulldogs (17-3, 4-1) for much of the first half because of the Owls’ 63.6 percent three-point shooting.

The Temple lead was as high as seven when Butler freshman guard Kellen Dunham hit two successive three-pointers to cut the lead to 21-20.

Clarke hit a jumper on the next possession to put Butler in front for the first time with nine minutes remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs would lose the lead briefly but pushed the advantage to as much as eight points before the Owls pulled to within three points as the half ended.

After the break, Butler’s lead grew to 13 with more than 13 minutes remaining in the game.

However, Temple fought back with threes by senior guard Scootie Randall and senior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson made a free throw after being fouled on a successful layup to tie the game at 56 with 8:12 remaining.

A dunk from junior forward Khyle Marshall off a pass from Clarke brought the lead back to the Bulldogs.

Dunham followed with a couple of timely three-pointers that were able to help Butler pull away for good.

Clarke did not appear to be held back by any aftereffects of the sprained neck he suffered in the Jan. 12 game at Dayton. The senior missed three games because of the injury.

“It was great, just kind of heartwarming to have him back on the court knowing what he went through and knowing how scary it was,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said.

“Knowing something like that happens puts a lot of things in perspective,” Clarke said. “I just wanted to be able to get back out there with these guys and our coaches and coming away with a win was even better.”

Clarke was knocked to the floor several times over the course of Saturday’s game but he said he was not affected.

“Honestly going into the game, I wasn’t worried about it,” Clarke said. “I was just going to go out and play the same way I’ve always played. It was a crazy incident what happened, so I was just going into it with a peace of mind knowing I was going to play the same way.”

Butler’s offense operates better with Clarke on the court, Stevens said.

“We’re a better transition team, obviously with Rotnei in the game because of the way Rotnei passes the ball,” Stevens said. “But also, the threat of him shooting when crosses 27 feet or so.”

Teammates were on the receiving end of Clarke’s team-high nine assists, many of them dunks.

“It’s easy to get assists when you can throw it up there and guys just grab it and dunk it in like this guy (Marshall),” Clarke said.

Marshall scored 19 points, 14 of which were scored off of dunks.

Dunham was almost perfect from behind the arc, shooting five-of-six on three-pointers. Dunham finished the game with 17 points.

Stevens said Clarke’s absence was beneficial for the young shooter.

“I really believe that that’s probably the thing that you can say with certainty that he’s rising,” Stevens said. “He’s really playing with a great deal of confidence but he’s playing well on both ends of the floor.”

Clarke’s return was great news for the team but Stevens said he was pleased with the way the team played in his absence.

“Knock on wood we don’t have to go through that again with any of our players where they have to sit out, but if it does happen, we’ll just sub the next guy in and find a way,” Stevens said. “I was really proud of our guys. The way they played over those 150 minutes—that was big time the way they stepped up.”

Months of planning went into preparing for Saturday’s ESPN College GameDay broadcast at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

ESPN first alerted the university of its decision to have Butler host the first show of the season last August.

The athletics department had been working in coordination with ESPN since October to finalize the logistics of the broadcast.

“I’m going to say we’ve had three or four conference calls with ESPN,” said Mike Freeman, associate athletic director for external operations. “We’ve been in constant communication with them the last two months because this is the first one where they’re doing basketball this season.”

ESPN crews first arrived at Hinkle Fieldhouse Tuesday night and began work Wednesday.

The network sent a camera crew earlier this month to shoot footage and scout the venue ahead of the broadcast.

“When they came in to look at the building and get ready for it, they said it’s going to set up well for television,” Freeman said.

Construction of the set at center court began Friday night after the teams wrapped up their practices.

“There’s some different things that we’ve had to work through in terms of site, space allocation for ESPN over the last few days, setup times,” Freeman said. “We’ve had to work through adjusting practice times, but nothing major and in the end it’s all going to be worth it for the kind of event and exposure that Butler University will get from having ESPN College GameDay on our campus.”

Freeman said the national broadcast is unlike any event Hinkle has hosted in the time he has been at the university.

“We put on events on the court sometimes—tipoff dinners, luncheons. We even had the John Mellencamp concert a couple years ago,” Freeman said. “They brought in 45 staff members to run College GameDay, so the workload on us hasn’t been as much as when we run an event.”

The months of preparation for the broadcast and the active involvement of ESPN in the organizing process is also atypical of most Hinkle events.

“Most events like that around here don’t work like that,” Lindsay Martin, athletics marketing manager, said. “They’ve got their own staff that’s solely dedicated to College GameDay and making sure every aspect, from things that happen during the show, to where their production staff needs to set up, to helping us get a commemorative T-shirt in the bookstore and stuff like that. People are assigned to every single aspect of that, which is certainly a larger scale operation than what we’re used to.”

ESPN staff members began to arrive around 5 a.m. Saturday morning, with Hinkle employees reporting for work around an hour later.

“Basically we’ll be here to answer any questions for fans that come out to the broadcast because obviously it’s something that’s new for everybody,” Martin said. “No Butler fan has ever been through a College GameDay before here at Hinkle.”

ESPN analyst Rece Davis said Hinkle is a classic venue for the program that showcases the traditions of the game.

“It has the feel of a place like Cameron Indoor Stadium, like ‘Phog’ Allen Fieldhouse that, you know, maybe it’s just because in our minds and subconscious we appreciate the history of the game,” he said. “But it’s almost as if you feel a connection to the past when you walk in there. It certainly has the old-school look and feel and it makes you feel, like this is what basketball should be.”

The national exposure that the broadcast brought to Butler is the pinnacle of success that both the basketball team and the university has achieved in recent years, Freeman said.

“For them to select us, I think it kind of shows what everything that we’ve done over the last 25 years,“ Freeman said. “It’s not the start, it’s the culmination of a lot of things that have gone right.”

On Jan. 19, College GameDay made its way to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the matchup between the Gonzaga and the Butler Bulldogs.

Before Saturday’s  game, Dawg Pound member Ari Kasle was asked what expectations he had for the contest.

“I think any time Butler is on the court, magic things happen,” he said.

This pregame prediction was spot on.

With 3.5 seconds to go in the game, 63-62 Gonzaga, chances of a Butler victory were slipping away.

The Gonzaga in-bounds pass was stolen by sophomore guard Roosevelt Jones, and  before the clock hit zero, he put up a floater and a prayer.

After the shot went in and students rushed the floor, the overall experience of College GameDay was complete.

Butler’s victory was the icing on the cake for the entire GameDay experience.

The day started with students lining up outside Hinkle before 6 am.

Students waited in the cold for the chance to be a part of a prestigious basketball tradition and to be seen by the entire nation on ESPN.

Once the doors opened, people rushed into Hinkle.

Before the GameDay broadcast, ESPN analyst Digger Phelps gave a pre-game pep talk to get the crowd excited for the show. ESPN’s presence created an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation in for students and fans in Hinkle.

During the broadcast, ESPN continually involved the crowd. ESPN utilized students as backgrounds for the interviews of both coach Brad Stevens and senior guard Rotnei Clarke.

Throughout the broadcast, ESPN frequently panned sections of the crowd to include all of the students and make their efforts worthwhile.

In return, students and fans showed their appreciation for the game.

Freshman Mike Schau said College GameDay was a “once in a lifetime experience and probably the biggest game I’ve been to at Hinkle in my life.”

As the GameDay show was winding down, junior Kevin Schwartz was selected to shoot a half-court shot, worth $18,000 if he made it.

Schwartz was successful on his first attempt and received his check.

He broke ESPN’s streak of 32 failed attempts. It was the first made half-court shot on College GameDay in four years.

While he was excited about making the shot, Schwartz said he was more eager for Butler’s upcoming game.

“This is one of the biggest games we’ve ever had at Butler, especially in my last two and a half years,” Schwartz said. “To see the whole school rally behind this team is pretty incredible.”

Not only was GameDay an experience for sports fanatics to check off their bucket list, it was also what charged the sixth man of Butler basketball to push the Bulldogs to a magical victory.

The women’s basketball season is about to tip off for Butler, and although the team will still be playing in Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs will no longer be playing in the Horizon League.

The team finished with 13 victories against 17 losses in its final season in the Horizon League.

This year, Butler will look to improve on this mark as a new member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

“Everything is going to be new for us,” Butler coach Beth Couture said. “From top to bottom, the league is going to be much more competitive.

“I’m so excited to be in a league like the A-10 where women’s basketball has such rich tradition.”

The Bulldogs will have only four active returning players when they kick off their inaugural A-10 season.

“Everything is new: the players we have, the conference, the locations,” sophomore forward Haley Howard said. “We just don’t really know what to expect, and I think that will be the toughest challenge for sure.”

Junior center Sarah Hamm earned All-Conference honors last season but will miss the entire 2012-13 campaign with a torn ACL.

The squad’s only senior, forward Becca Bornhorst, recently had knee surgery as well and will not play this season.

The loss of Hamm will leave a gap in the Bulldogs’ lineup that will eventually need to be filled.

“We’re going to have to (fill Hamm’s role) by committee,” Couture said. “(Sophomore center Liz) Stratman will be eligible after exams, which will help us when we get in A-10 play.

“But we’re looking at (junior forward Daress) McClung and (sophomore forward Amanda) Raker to really be the leaders early with their experience.”

Stratman, McClung and sophomore guard Taylor Schippers all transferred to Butler within the last year and are expected to contribute this season.

“The transfers play a major role in this year’s team,” junior guard Mandy McDivitt said. “Each of them brings unique experiences from other programs, and each is so talented.”

McClung and Schippers will be able to play from the outset while Stratman will have to wait until mid-December to join in on the action.

With so many new faces on the roster, returning team members will need to figure out new members’ playing styles and how they will fit on the team.

“We have 10 girls that can go out and play very well and be extremely successful,” Howard said. “I see no problems with team chemistry this year at all, especially for having so many new girls at one time.”

Despite going into this season with many variables, Couture said she does have one aspiration for the team.

“When we leave the floor after a game, we want the people that we’ve competed against to say, ‘Wow, they were a tough team, and they played hard and they played together,’” Couture said, “and if we can accomplish that, we’ll have a chance to have some success.”

The magical time of year known as basketball season has finally arrived at Butler University.

The anticipation is building for students eager to see the Bulldogs do well in their first season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Butler students are lucky to have free access to all university sporting events, including basketball.

In Hinkle Fieldhouse, there is a special outlet for extreme excitement and passion—the Dawg Pound.

Dawg Pound is a student run organization that every student can benefit from joining.

The organization is one of the largest on Butler’s campus with around 1,100 registered members, according to the organization’s president, Michael Van De Voort.

Freshmen must pay a $30 membership fee, and all other students pay $20.

This fee may sound steep, but the money covers courtside seating for every home basketball game, opportunities to go to road games at schools like Xavier and Northwestern, exclusive ticket deals at games such as the Crossroads Classic and at least one Dawg Pound T-shirt.

Students really get their money’s worth out of the experience.

But the biggest perk of being in Dawg Pound is not the ticket deals or free T-shirts.

The best reward is being with friends and classmates, cheering your lungs out for the team.

I met several of my closest friends in Dawg Pound and many new friends at last year’s Crossroads Classic, where Butler beat Purdue.

The sense of community and pride I felt in Dawg Pound last year was something special.

It brings together students who would normally never talk or hang out, let alone scream their heads off cheering together.

I took full advantage of the opportunity to jump around, shouting like a complete maniac and having it be socially acceptable.

Usually I’m not a very loud person, but when it comes to Bulldog basketball, all inhibitions are out the door.

Dawg Pound is an opportunity for all students to get a little wild, be social and show their school spirit.

Butler students should take advantage of the opportunities this organization presents and cheer on the Bulldogs

The student ticket process for attending basketball games has changed this year.

With both basketball seasons right around the corner, students need to make sure they follow the correct steps to gain admittance to Hinkle Fieldhouse.

All students can still attend games, but if they are not members of Dawg Pound, they will need to register with their student ID numbers.

Lindsay Martin, manager of marketing and promotions, said the new process will allow the department to track who attends games.

Students can register in two ways.

The first is to email the athletics department and request to be registered. People will also be present at the first men’s basketball exhibition game this Saturday to register students as they come in.

A form is available on butlersports.com, Martin said, but it has not been working. She suggests one of the first two options to make sure students get registered.

There is no cost to register. Part of the student activity fee that students must pay goes to cover this cost.

The process has changed slightly for Dawg Pound members as well.

Members no longer have a card. Instead, they are registered through their student ID just like other students.

Students can still register to be a member of Dawg Pound and receive the organization’s benefits.

Martin said only Dawg Pound members can sit in the lower-level seats.

Additionally, members have access to bus trips, first chance at tickets for tournaments like the Crossroads Classic and the opportunity to win prizes at the end of the year.

Dawg Pound has approximately 1,000 members signed up already. No cut-off date to join has been announced.

Students can register for Dawg Pound by visiting Martin’s office in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Cost is $30 for freshmen and $20 for everyone else.

All students should enter Hinkle through gate two.

Butler University Homecoming featured new events for alumni and current students.

New to this year’s events included Behind the Scenes at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler Couples Commitment Blessing and Butler Homecoming Food Truck Festival.

Nikki Mazelin, director of alumni and parent programs, said the Behind the Scenes at Hinkle Fieldhouse event had good turnout.

Mazelin said around 15 couples were in attendance at the Couples Commitment Blessing –—a ceremony at the Carillon for couples who met their significant other at Butler or who have a connection to Butler.

“The couples that were there all seemed very appreciative, thought it was a great idea and would like it to continue, as would we,” she said.

Mazelin also said the food truck festival went very well.

The Flying Cupcake came with 300 cupcakes and left with one. The Der Pretzel Wagen truck sold out of pretzels with an hour and a half of time left on campus.

Streets were closed for the Bulldog Beauty Contest, the parade and chariot races on Saturday.

Cars parked in restricted areas were towed.

Assistant Police Chief Bill Weber said alumni were encouraged to park at The Riviera Club, where a shuttle could take them to campus.

Mazelin said Homecoming is a big draw for alumni.

“Homecoming is great because it brings alumni back to campus and helps strengthen their tie to Butler,” Mazelin said.

One activity alumni participated in was wine tasting Friday night in the Holcomb Observatory, put on by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Friday night also included class  reunions.

The class of 2007 celebrated its five-year reunion at the Red Room in Broad Ripple, and the class of 2002 celebrated its 10-year reunion at Moe & Johnny’s in Broad Ripple.

Duke Hamm, a 1981 graduate, came back to partake in activities.

“I come back to relive the greatness of Butler,” Hamm said.

Hamm said he enjoyed the Bulldog Beauty Contest.

Kara Greenup, a 1986 graduate, said participation was great because there was something for everybody.

“We have activities for kids and young couples and returning alumni,” Greenup said. “There is so much to do, I don’t think anybody missed out on having a great time.”