Butler says it feels no pressure

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Indianapolis — Butler forward Gordon Hayward knew it was going to be a different week when he got a standing ovation in one of his classes.

It’s been one gigantic homecoming for the Bulldogs, who returned to their hometown of Indianapolis to play this weekend’s Final Four in their own backyard at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It is very nice to be able to sleep in our own beds and actually attend classes,” forward Matt Howard said. “Luckily for me, I had three (on Thursday), but I wasn’t able to go with everything going on here today with practice and all. I know that my professors won’t like me saying that, but the Final Four is such a special experience and I don’t think they mind.”

The local attention has created some unwanted distractions, but the Bulldogs said they aren’t feeling the hometown pressure.

“I’ve gotten too many phone calls and text messages about tickets and all that stuff,” Hayward said. “I think, for us, we’ve had too many texts and phone calls for all of our games, so for us it is really just another normal week. I’ve had people asking for tickets for the very first game of the year, and the same people are asking for tickets for this game.”

Head coach Brad Stevens hasn’t dealt with as many interactions on campus as his players have, but he believes the Bulldogs are staying humble and grounded.

“I don’t live at the dorms and I haven’t been over to the cafeteria on campus, so I don’t know what it’s been like,” Stevens said. “I do know we had a normal week. Media availability was Tuesday and there was a little bit more media than usual … but I do think our guys have done a good job managing it all.

“A lot of guys have grown up in Indiana and dreamed about playing in the Final Four and we’re going to enjoy our experience here.”

Sizable stadium

When the Bulldogs step onto the Lucas Oil Stadium court Saturday, they’ll be playing in front of the largest crowd of their playing careers.

The stadium will hold about 70,000 for Saturday’s games. The largest crowd Butler has played in front of this year is 17,587 in Salt Lake City for its Elite Eight matchup with Kansas State.

“It’s like playing outside,” guard Shelvin Mack said of Lucas Oil Stadium.

“There’s not really any background so it reminds me of the old days playing outside while growing up. It’s a great challenge.”

Despite the size, the Bulldogs said they aren’t intimidated because playing at Lucas Oil Stadium is something they’ve been looking forward to all season.

“I actually came to Lucas Oil Stadium for a concert in November, it was a country concert,” guard Ronald Nored said. “I remember sending somebody a text saying, ‘If we play here, this will be special.’ The feeling is awesome. This is something you dream about.”

More with less

The Final Four’s other three teams have large athletic departments and budgets, but Butler consistently has managed to find success on the basketball court using much smaller dividends.

Although Butler doesn’t have the resources of other top schools, Stevens said he is able to find and recruit kids who hope to get more out of college than just four years of basketball.

“If you want the newest, fanciest, most plush thing, Butler’s not for you,” Stevens said. “We can weed that out pretty quickly because all you have to do is walk into the building and it’s not the newest fancy Jumbotron and all those things.

“But, you can also find guys that (believe) people matter, degree opportunities really matter, having a chance to do an internship because you’re in a community … where you get a chance to experience a lot of different things and still be a basketball player.”

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