SPOKANE, Wash. — College of Charleston’s Bryce Butler got his welcome to Division I basketball moment pretty early this season.
The graduate transfer came to the Lowcountry with an impressive resume.
Playing last season for perennial power West Liberty, Bulter had had his way at the Division II level. The 6-5 guard/forward scored more points – 829 – last season than any player at the Division II level.
He’d been a consensus first team All-American and led the Hilltoppers to the Division II national title game.
College of Charleston's Bryce Butler averaged 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds a game this season for the Cougars.
All that didn’t seem to matter against Iona in the Cougars’ season opener.
At one point, Butler drove the lane for he what he assumed would be an easy basket, only to have his shot swatted away like a pesky fly.
“I realized pretty quickly that stuff I might have gotten away with at West Liberty wasn’t going to work here,” said Butler, who was named the Coastal Athletic Association’s sixth man of the year. “Guys are bigger, stronger, more athletic in Division I, so there was an adjustment period for me like I think there is for any player that is coming into this league for the first time.”
Butler, an Academic All-American, was a quick learner. It didn’t take long for him to not only fit in, but become a leader on a College of Charleston team that is headed to its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Cougars will face No. 4 seed Alabama on March 22 at 7:35 p.m. The game will be televised by truTV.
“I hope a guy like Bryce Butler knocks on my door and asks for my daughter’s hand in marriage someday,” said College of Charleston coach Pat Kelsey. “He’s that caliber of human being. He’s a special, special person. He is soft spoken, he’s a man of relatively few words, but he’s the type of guy that when he says something, the room gets absolutely silent.
“He has this toughness, this tenacity, and grit to his game. He’s one of the most efficient offensive players I’ve been around. I’m very blessed to say I was able to coach him.”
Some players with Butler's accolades might not have accepted a role coming off the bench. It didn't matter to Butler, who is part of the one of most productive benches in the NCAA Tournament.
"Whatever role they needed me to play was fine with me," Butler said. "It's not going to change my game. I would bring the same energy no matter if I was starting or coming off the bench."
Bulter’s game has many elements to it. He can post-up smaller players in the paint, he’s also one of the Cougars’ top 3-point shooters from a percentage standpoint and he’s capable of guarding players at several different positions.
“The more you can do on the floor, the more I feel like you can help the team win,” Butler said.
A year ago at this time, Butler was in the midst of a deep NCAA Tournament run of his own.
West Liberty would end up losing to Nova Southeastern, 111-101, in the D-II title game in one of the highest scoring games in NCAA Tournament championship history.
The feeling of that run and the Cougars trip through the CAA Tournament and now into March Madness have been similar.
“This is the biggest stage you can play on,” Butler said. “The attention and when March rolls around is what everyone is talking about. This is the reason I came to Charleston.”
One of the players that Butler was matched up against in the D-II national title game was current CofC guard Kobe Rodgers, who finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals in that game, leading Nova Southeastern to a perfect 36-0 campaign.
Ironically, the two former combatants are not only teammates, but roommates with the Cougars.
“It’s crazy how things work out,” Rodgers said. “You got from trying to stop him to now I’m like, ‘Let Bryce go to work, feed that guy the ball. He’s a bucket.’
“Bryce is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. Seeing the heart and determination he played with last year in the national championship game you knew he was going to give everything he had to the team. Luckily, I was on the winning side last year, now we have a common goal.”
How often does the championship game come up in conversation?
“As often as I can,” Rodgers said with a laugh.
