Butler is the only team in NCAA Division I with two members of the 15-person ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® University Division Men’s Basketball team in its starting lineup - junior Matt Howard (pictured, left) and sophomore Gordon Hayward (pictured below). Photos courtesy of www.indy.com.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Butler University enters this weekend’s NCAA Final Four with a number of impressive credentials. The Bulldogs have a 32-4 record and a 24-game winning streak, the longest in the nation.
Butler is also the only team in NCAA Division I with two members of the 15-person ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® University Division Men’s Basketball team in its starting lineup.
Junior
Matt Howard, a finance major with a 3.77 grade point average (GPA) and sophomore
Gordon Hayward, a computer engineering major with a 3.31 GPA, have played prominent roles while leading Butler to the Final Four in Indianapolis this weekend. Butler will face Michigan State in the first semi-final game at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday. Duke and West Virginia will meet in the second semi-final game. The two winners meet for the national championship on Monday, April 5.
Howard, a member of the 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team, was honored as the Horizon League Player of the Year in 2008-09. As a junior, the native of Connersville, Ind. was chosen to the All-Horizon League first team for the second year in a row.
A member of the Academic All-America® second team in 2008-09, Howard was the Most Valuable Player at the Horizon League Tournament as he led the Bulldogs to their second title in three years. The team leader with a .490 field goal percentage, the 6-8 forward is averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
A third team selection on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® team,
Hayward (left) was named as the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA West Regional. In the Bulldogs’ 63-56 win over second-seeded Kansas State in the regional championship game, Hayward scored a game high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds. In four NCAA Tournament games, Hayward is averaging 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Hayward was also named as the Horizon League Player of the Year in 2009-10. A first team All-League selection for the second year in a row, the Brownsburg, Ind. native is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer with a 15.3 average. Hayward also leads Butler with 8.3 rebounds per game.
Howard and Hayward led Coach Brad Stevens’ team to an 18-0 record in Horizon League regular season play as Butler became the first team in league history to post a perfect regular season record. The Bulldogs won their fourth consecutive Horizon League regular season title and are making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Seeded fifth in the West Region, the Bulldogs earned their berth in the Final Four with four straight NCAA Tournament victories. After a 77-59 victory over Texas-El Paso in the first round, the Bulldogs edged Murray State by 54-52 to reach the Sweet Sixteen. In the third round, Butler upset top-seeded Syracuse, 63-59. That set the stage for Butler’s 63-56 victory over second-seeded Kansas State in the regional finals.
Howard and Hayward were two of six members of the ESPN The Magazine® Academic All-America University Division team to compete in the NCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship.
Junior
Cole Aldrich of Kansas and
junior Tim Abromaitis of Notre Dame, a pair of first team choices, led their teams into the NCAA Tournament.
New Mexico senior Ramon Martinez, a second team selection, helped New Mexico earn an NCAA Tournament berth while
Purdue junior E’Twaun Moore, another second team pick, led the Boilermakers to the Sweet Sixteen.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com.FOR MORE INFORMATION: Dan O’Connell, Towson University (
doconnell@towson.edu) (410) 704-3102
Academic All-America ® Vice-Chair For Publicity/Communications
Geoff Hassard, SUNY at Oneonta (
hassargj@oneonta.edu) (607) 436-2106
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity