Nov.X Loyola-Chicago at DePaul

Dec. 17, 2003--Loyola-Chicago @ Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.)
Jan. 5, 2004 -- Loyola-Chicago @ Cleveland
Jan. 10, 2004--Milwaukee @ Loyola-Chicago
Feb. 12, 2004--Loyola Chicago @ Milwaukee
Feb. 26, 2004--Cleveland @ Loyola-Chicago

Butler Preview:

As the Butler University website likes to proclaim, "Butler is 53-13 in two seasons under [head coach Todd] Lickliter. The Bulldogs were 27-6 and captured a fourth consecutive Horizon League regular season championship last season. Butler has compiled seven consecutive 20-win seasons and seven straight trips to post-season tournament play."  An impressive history, no doubt, and one which had them deep into the NCAA tournament last season, to the Tournament Sweet 16, where they lost to Oklahoma, the No1 seed in the region, 65-54.  Butler was pretty good last year.  Heck, they were really good.  But that was last year, and this is now.  Who will they have returning and which of the new players will step up?  Here's a look:

Lost To Graduation:

Starters--Curry, Miller, Archey, combined for 3,697 minutes of play last season, and combined for 1281 of the team's total 2,229 points during the season. Walls and Moore between them combined for only 103 minutes,and between them scored only 13 points, so their loss will hardly be felt on the court. 

Impact players returning:

Mike Monserez, started all 33 games, played the second most minutes of anyone last season (1,102), and averaged 9.2 ppg, but more importantly had 111 assists, the second most on the team after Brandon Miller, and he will be expected to take over a good share of the offense. While Duane Lightfoot was not a starter last year, he played significant minutes in all 33 games (812 minutes) averaging 24.6 minutes on the floor per contest. He also averagedf 10.9 ppg and also will be expected to step up his offensive production with the loss of Archey, Miller and Curry.  Averay Sheets and Bruce Horan were the only other two players who received significant minutes last season, and it remains to be seen whether Sheets will have what it takes to run the team now that Miller is gone.   Horan may or may not become an impact player, and having averaged just 9.4 minutes per game and 2.1 ppg, he will definitely see competition from some of the newer players and even a few returnees.

Returning Players

After Lightfoot and Monserez, Sheets and Horan,

## Player GP-GS Min--Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 Lightfoot, Duane... 33-0 812 24.6 155-236 .657 1-7 .143 50-75 .667 49 90 139 4.2 89 2 16 25 16 37 361 10.9
22 Monserez, Mike..... 33-33 1102 33.4 94-214 .439 48-122 .393 68-85 .800 51 127 178 5.4 84 2 111 75 0 36 304 9.2
21 Sheets, Avery...... 33-0 525 15.9 59-137 .431 31-79 .392 18-25 .720 6 26 32 1.0 23 0 31 30 0 21 167 5.1
03 Horan, Bruce....... 31-0 292 9.4 21-54 .389 21-51 .412 2-4 .500 3 21 24 0.8 11 0 12 5 1 3 65 2.1
13 Grunst, Ben........ 10-0 36 3.6 4-9 .444 0-0 .000 6-12 .500 3 1 4 0.4 5 0 0 1 1 0 14 1.4
34 James, Jeff........ 16-0 55 3.4 7-11 .636 0-0 .000 2-2 1.000 5 5 10 0.6 14 1 1 5 1 0 16 1.0
55 Moore, Mike........ 13-0 51 3.9 5-8 .625 0-0 .000 1-1 1.000 2 4 6 0.5 8 0 1 0 2 0 11 0.8
31 Grunst, Andy....... 8-0 20 2.5 1-3 .333 1-3 .333 2-2 1.000 0 5 5 0.6 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.6
30 Gardner, Nick...... 15-0 53 3.5 1-5 .200 1-5 .200 0-1 .000 2 10 12 0.8 10 0 0 2 0 1 3 0.2
23 Walls, Rob......... 19-0 52 2.7 1-4 .250 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 2 4 6 0.3 6 0 0 1 0 1 2 0.1
02 Reynolds, Ryan..... 4-0 4 1.0 0-1 .000 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 TEAM............... 31 56 87 2.6 0 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total.............. 33 6699 786-1655 .475 274-699 .392 383-533 .719 259 663 922 27.9 528 10 420 353 59 207 2229 67.5 Opponents.......... 33 6701 752-1692 .444 164-480 .342 318-478 .665 344 663 1007 30.5 561 - 322 400 91 165 1986 60.2

Butler should have the following fall 2003 signees joining the roster:

Nick Brooks (6'-5" Sr. F) from Robinson, Illinois
Brandon Crone (6'-5" Sr. F) from Frankfort, Indiana
James Smalligan (6'-11" Sr. C) from Grand Rapids, MI

Crone, a 6-6 swing player, was considered one of the top high school players in Indiana. A three year all-conference and all-area performer, he averaged 20.7 points and 8.3 rebounds as a junior. A two-year team scoring and rebounding leader, Crone played for Team Indiana in the summer of 2002 and helped his squad to the 2002 AAU Indiana State Championship, and was named MVP of the State Tournament.

Brooks is a 6-6 guard-forward, who was Wabash Valley "Player of the Year" as a junior. He averaged 23.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game, while helping his high school team to the Elite Eight of the Illinois Class A state tournament in 2002. He was ranked as a top-100 player by Dave Telep at TheInsiders.com

Smalligan is a 6-11 center from Grand Rapids who scored 10 ppg as a junior, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game. He played for the Michigan Mustangs in the summer of 2002, one of the top club teams on the adida circuit.  

Butler also picked up two late spring signees:

James Parker (6'-0" Jr. PG) from Eastern Oklahoma JC
Brian Ligon (6'-7" Sr. F) from St. Petersburg, FL

Parker, a 6'-0" two-year starter at Eastern Oklahoma State College, is a native of Chicago, Ill., who will bring considerable experience with him as a JC transfer.   Parker attended Near North High School in Chicago for three years before transferring to Farragut High School and sitting out his senior season. He started every game at point-guard for Eastern Oklahoma State in 2002-03 and averaged 10.6 points per game, and was ranked second in Region 2 of the NJCAA in assists at 4.7 per game. He shot 38% from the three-point arc and 83% from the free throw line.  He can also play the two spot, as he did as a JUCO freshman, when he averaged 9.3 ppg and dished out 91 assists.

Ligon was consistently rated as one of the top high school post players in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area as a high school player at Lakewood High School. A 6-8 power forward, Ligon averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots per game at Lakewood High School as a senior.

Cleveland State

Loyola-Chicago

University of Detroit Mercy

Illinois-Chicago

No commitments reported

Wisconsin Green Bay

UW-Milwaukee

June 25, 2003

MILWAUKEE - Redshirt freshman Gordy Zastrow and recruit Andre White will attend junior colleges for the coming academic year, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl annouced today. Zastrow was a redshirt at UWM last season and will transfer from UWM due to academic reasons. White signed a letter of intent to attend UWM this past fall but has decided to attend a two-year college. Both players were to be on scholarship at UWM in the coming season, so the Panthers are now free to use those scholarships on other incoming players.

Gone to graduation

Derek Huff  F 6-8 245 Sr. Louisville, Ky. (Fern Creek/Marshalltown CC)
Ronnie Jones G 5-9 165 Sr. Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas)
Dan Weisse  G 5-11 175 Sr. Oshkosh, Wis. (West)
Jose Winston G 5-11 180 Sr. Milwaukee, Wis. (Vincent/Colorado)
Clay Tucker F 6-3 195 Sr. Lima, Ohio (Perry)

Lost to grades/scholarship not renewed:

Gordy Zastrow G 6-4 175 Fr. Manitowoc, Wis. (Lincoln) (a redshirt last season)
Andre White G 6-0 175 Fr. Zion-Benton, Ill. (will attend JC as a non-qualifier)

Returning:

Chris Hill  G  5-10 160 So Chicago, Ill. (Whitney Young)
Kalombo Kadima  G/F 6-2 185 Sr. Milwaukee, Wis. (King)
Mark Pancratz G 6-3 185 Fr.Schaumburg, Ill. (Schaumburg)
Joah Tucker F  6-5 220 So. Milwaukee, Wis. (Glendale Nicolet/Bradley)
Dylan Page F  6-8 225 Jr. Amherst, Wis. (Amherst)
Marcus Conigliaro G 6-2 195 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis. (Vincent)
Adam Finley F 6-7 230 Fr. Genoa, Ill. (Rockford Boylan)
Jason Frederick G  6-4 185 Sr. Waukesha, Wis. (North)
Justin Lettenberger F 6-5 190 Sr.  Manitowoc, Wis. (Lincoln)
Kyle Knipple F 6-7 244 Fr. Greenfield, Wis. (Thomas More)
Nate Mielke C 6-11 220 Jr. Waterloo, Iowa (East/Marshalltown CC)
Rob Sanders F 6-6 185 So. Toledo, Ohio (Scott/Toledo)
Adrian Tigert  F 6-6 230 So. Oshkosh, Wis. (West)
Fernando Johnson F 6-9 230 Fr. Milwaukee, Wis. (North Division)
Ben Brey F 6-5 200 Jr. Madison, Wis. (West)

New players:

.(8) Ed McCants, 6'3, 2G, Paris (JC) TX
(6) Ricardo Freeman, 6'2, 2G, Seward County (JC) KS
(3) Andre White, 6'0, PG, Zion (Zion-Benton) IL

Wright State

commitments:

Youngstown State