There are four returning players for the men’s basketball team this season. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
DAVID JACOBS | MANAGING EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team scored 2,616 total points during last season’s 35-game schedule. This year, the Dawgs return just 15.2% of the overall scoring output.
With just four returning players — junior guard Finley Bizjack, sophomore guard Evan Haywood, junior guard Ethan McComb and redshirt sophomore forward Jamie Kaiser Jr. — it is a brand-new look this year after going 15-20, capping off the worst five-year stretch in program history since 1985-90.
Of the returning four, only three saw playing time last season with Kaiser sidelined by injury. Bringing back 350 of the 400 returning points, Bizjack shoulders nearly all of the carryover production from last year’s roster.
“Scoring is what I naturally do; it’s what I’ve done my entire life,” Bizjack said. “I’ve worked really hard this summer, in this offseason, to make sure that I can bring that and more [to this year’s team].”
Bizjack was able to star in his new role as the go-to scorer in the team’s exhibition game against Notre Dame on Oct. 17, pouring in a game-high 16 points in the 77-76 loss. Haywood added eight points while Kaiser put up 12 in his Butler debut.
As roster overhauls have become the new norm in college basketball, it can leave a lot of uncertainty in a locker room, especially for young players trying to develop.
“We didn’t really know who was going to come back,” Haywood said. “I expected to have more guys, but I knew [the other three] were coming back … We know how talented we can be as leaders, to lead this new group and show them The Butler Way.”
Having to fill out a completely new roster, Bizjack and company knew the type of player they wanted to see in their new teammates.
“Energy and effort were a lot of what we wanted to bring in as a team,” Bizjack said. “Just guys that really wanted to be here. It was definitely hard, but we got all the right type of guys who want to be here and want to come in every day and work. You can see after practice, guys [are] in here getting shots up, we love to see that.”
With a newfound work ethic across the roster, there are plenty of new faces Bulldog fans should be excited to see.
McComb points out the new “athletic and physical” center trio on the roster of Yohan Traore, Drayton Jones and Kevin Ndzie.
For Bizjack, he notes Michael Ajayi is “incredibly tough and physical,” while Jalen Jackson “is just awesome with how fast and strong he is.”
With the changing faces in the locker room, not only can it be tough to create a synergy for on-court play, but simply constructing such a roster can be difficult.
“Never, ever in my coaching career [did I think we’d be] discussing [what we’re discussing] in a spring recruiting meeting,” Matta said. “It’s crazy, but I think we’re giving ourselves a fighting chance now. We’ve got to get guys that have something to prove [to play] here.”
After such a disappointing season last year, it was clear to Bizjack that things had changed the moment all of the new transfers and first-years set foot on campus.
“Once everyone got here, the energy was different,” Bizjack said. “It happened overnight, the coaches gripped onto that energy. So it all changed super fast, where guys were coming in to get extra shots, guys are getting early to lift, just little things that you wouldn’t think would go very far, but I think will help us in March.”
That noted difference has been the tone set by the returning core to help establish a new precedent for this season.
McComb, who is in a new role himself after getting put on scholarship over the summer, has seen the impact the new energy has made for this team.
“You could tell when we had guys in for visits during the transfer portal season, just the personalities of the guys we had meshed really well,” McComb said. “Whether it’s at dinner or on the court, [everything] carries over. We’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re communicating well and I think we all get along on and off the court, so that helps with team success as well.”
While the Dawgs were able to get a taste of the new team in the exhibition loss to Notre Dame, they will have one more exhibition against Indiana State before tipping off non-conference play on Nov. 5 against the University of Southern Indiana.
“I love the new guys,” Haywood said. “I feel like we made it a pretty simple and easy transition for them getting here, and we’ve been connected better than ever.”
