Butler prepares for life after Hayward

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Butler coach Brad Stevens finally got the answer he needed Friday, even if it was bad news.

Gordon Hayward is heading to the NBA, and Stevens can now turn his full attention toward next season.

Minutes after Hayward announced he would stay in the draft and give up his final two college seasons, Stevens turned his attention to a basketball world without his top player.

“Right now, I’d say we have 14 players on our roster and barring something unforeseen, those will be the 14 players we go into next season with,” Stevens said.

The question is whether Butler can make another magical NCAA tourney run without Hayward.

He was the Bulldogs top scorer (15.5 points per game), top rebounder (8.2), the Horizon League’s player of the year and the catalyst for Butler’s run to the title game. Twice in the closing seconds against Duke, Hayward had chances to help his team win the championship. Instead, he missed a short baseline jumper and a buzzer-beating halfcourt heave — the last two shots of a short college career that won’t soon be forgotten around Indy or his nearby hometown of Brownsburg, Ind.

His departure, of course, means Butler now has a huge void to fill.

Hayward was projected to go in the top 10 to 20 picks when he entered the draft April 14, numbers that remained constant as he decided whether to withdraw from the draft before Saturday’s deadline. He just couldn’t.

“I will always be a Bulldog at heart, and I will pursue my degree in the future,” Hayward said as the band practiced inside Hinkle Fieldhouse for Saturday’s graduation.

Hayward said he informed teammates of the decision during a dinner at Fazoli’s, prompting Stevens to cut in with this: “He’s already working on the sponsorships.”

Losing Hayward is a serious blow to a program that had steadily risen in national prestige before becoming the headline attraction at this year’s Final Four, with their campus less than six miles away.