Anthony Jaskulski, Big East Tournament, West Virginia News

2010 BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP WAS DA’SEAN’S TOURNAMENT

By Anthony Jaskulski

Heroic efforts and exemplary moments are not scarce in the Big East tournament.

In 2006, Gerry McNamara rocked the tournament for four days, hitting buzzer-beaters and shocking every opponent his Syracuse Orange played to reach the title.

In 2009, Syracuse and Connecticut went to an epic six overtime periods to decide a 127-117 Orange victory. The game lasted for 3 hours and 46 minutes.

But this year, Da’Sean Butler’s story could be added to the classics played in the past. Butler played three games in three days that made everybody who watched ask exactly how thin is that line between reality and just plain impossible?

Scoring 59 points in the three combined games played by West Virginia, the Newark-native Butler connected on two game winning shots and was the leading scorer for his team in all of the games. He earned the tournament’s most outstanding player trophy thanks to his incredible performance.

“We know we always have a shot at winning no matter what when Da’Sean is on the court,” said Mountaineer forward Kevin Jones. “He’s without a doubt one of the best on the court, and no shot is a bad shot for him. It gives us that much more confidence when he’s on the court.”

Butler’s five most defining points of the tournament came on Mar. 12 vs. Cincinnati in the quarterfinals, and Saturday night in the championship game vs. Georgetown.

Tied at 51 Thursday against the Bearcats and with the ball just under four seconds left in the game, Butler got the ball at the top of the key, and drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give his Mountaineers the win. Two days later, Butler connected on an acrobatic, floating layup with four seconds left on the clock to push West Virginia to its first ever Big East title.

Those two game-winning shots added to the four other times he did it in the regular season.

“I love a banked three, but I have to go with the layup because it got us the win,” said Butler about his favorite buzzer-beater. “The banked three was pretty cool though. If it came down to level of difficulty, then I have to go with the three. That was pretty cool. That will live in my highlight reel forever.”

While the Cincinnati three-pointer lives in Butler’s memory, the crowd in attendance on Saturday night will never forget one of the more implausible drives to the bucket and finishes in the illustrious history of the Big East.

“The plan was for me to score however I could,” said Butler about Saturday’s winning shot vs. Georgetown. “I wanted to get to the basket. I caught the ball, had a little hesitation, then went around my man and drove for the basket. I tried my best to avoid the man setting up for a charge and just scooped it in.”

On top of his epic performance in the tournament, Butler also reached his own, personal milestone; reaching the 2,000 career point-plateau, with 2,016 total points—a number he set in the championship game.

“Whatever I can do to help win a game for this team, I’ll do,” Butler said. “We have five guys on the court at all times that refuse to quit, and will keep clawing at it no matter what. That is what is special about us. We have that don’t quit kind of mentality.”

Butler, who grew up in Newark, NJ—a stones throw from New York City—received a roaring standing-ovation prior to Saturday night’s game, when introductions were under way. One glance around the Madison Square Garden during that thunderous ovation, and you would have noticed that fans with Notre Dame, Cincinnati and even Georgetown apparel were giving the senior the respect he earned.

“This is so special to me,” said Butler about playing in New York City and taking home the title in front of a place where he grew up. “To come here and to play in (the Garden) is an honor in its self. To win and to bring a championship back to Morgantown is something entirely different. It’s just so great to be a part of it.”

Butler’s stat-line, which included 15 points vs. Cincinnati, 24 points vs. http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/big-east-team-pages/notre-dame/ and 20 points vs. Georgetown, and the damage he did in-between, will be something that will live in Big East tournament-lore for as long as it exists.

Madison Square Garden will remember Butler’s name forever. After all, the 2010 Big East championship comes off the tongue a lot easier, when you call it Da’Sean’s Day.

It was his day, and it was his tournament.

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Anthony Jaskulski has been writing about Big East sports and particularly college basketball at all levels for several years now. “Young A”s” sublime literary gems can be found in the pages of the Pittsburgh Sports Report and in his own college hoops website The Pittsburgh Paint along with other publications (including this online destination where Anthony has brought outstanding coverage of the AAU scene over the last few summers.

We encourage you to check out Anthony’s site, while enjoying the coverage he will help bring to NBE readers this week from New York City.
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