Butler’s Hayward leads run to Final 4

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Gordon Hayward has always embraced the big stage.

Whether it’s rapping on YouTube, winning a state title on a buzzer-beating shot or making a steal to preserve an NCAA tournament victory, it’s hard to miss the 6-foot-9 Butler sophomore.

He’s not just a forward, he’s a point forward. He’s not just a basketball player, he’s an academic All-American. And the Bulldogs are not just another mid-major powerhouse, they are now a Final Four team with a chance to win it all at home.

“It’s been kind of crazy, real, real intense here,” Hayward said Tuesday, three days after the Bulldogs clinched the school’s first regional title. “People are always talking about it, and it feels like that’s all people are talking about.”

Of course. It’s the Bulldogs’ most significant basketball achievement since the 1920s.

The school that has always been overshadowed by Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame, has suddenly become the new darling in a state steeped in basketball tradition. Reporters from coast-to-coast are converging on the 4,500-student campus to get a glimpse of historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and their new star.

Most know that without Hayward’s 22 points against second-seeded Kansas State, Butler probably wouldn’t be getting ready for Saturday’s national semifinal game against Michigan State about 5 miles from campus.

People forget, though, that without Hayward’s heads-up defensive adjustment against Murray State, the Bulldogs may not have even won their second-round game. Hayward sealed it when he started to trap a Murray State guard near midcourt, then backed off and dove into a passing lane. The deflection sent the ball into the backcourt, running out the clock on a 54-52 victory.

Hayward started out like all those other Indiana kids, dreaming of playing in the Big Ten.

“If I was supposed to go there [Purdue], I remember thinking my feelings would have been different,” Hayward said. “I think in my heart, I knew this is where I should be.”