Coach Brad Stevens '99 Leads Butler to National Championship Game

April 4, 2010

April 4, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — "Just as Butler coach Brad Stevens did against the Orange and Wildcats, he found Michigan State's weakness and went after it," writes the Associated Press' Nancy Armour in a summary of last night's Final Four battle between Butler and Michigan State.  Led by head coach Stevens, a 1999 graduate of DePauw University, Butler advanced to Monday's national championship game with a 52-50 victory. (top photo: Stevens walks on to the court before last night's tipoff; courtesy Indianapolis Star/Robert Scheer)

"Butler's Brad Stevens coached in measured calm, a minimalist conductor for a team in synch with its all-for-one game plan -- except for scoring," notes today's Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. The Bulldogs shot just 30.6% for the game en route to their 25th consecutive victory.

Tomorrow night, the team led by the 33-year-old Stevens -- who was an economics major and Management Fellow at DePauw -- will take on Duke University, led by coach Mike Krzyzewski, who came to DePauw in September 2002 to deliver a Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture. (at right: Stevens' team photo from his undergraduate days; access an online profile of Brad Stevens.)

"Butler needs one more chapter to close the book on what would be one of the most improbable runs in college basketball history," writes the Indianapolis Star's David Woods. "The Bulldogs, who began this NCAA Tournament as 200-to-1 shots, are in the championship game. Butler, with an enrollment of 4,200, will be the smallest school in 40 years to play for the national title."

Brad Stevens took time to talk with DePauw's student radio station, WGRE, as his team prepared for Michigan State last week.  Learn more in this story, and listen to the interview by DePauw senior John Herrick by clicking here.

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