Jordan Griffit and Austin McNorton
Student Sports Media
The Butler Grizzlies men’s basketball team comes into the season with a preseason ranking of third in the Jayhawk Conference. Last season the team finished with an overall 19-13 record and missed a chance to play in the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson. This season the team is young with many new faces.
The biggest news from the team is the loss of LaJuan Hardy who led Butler in scoring with 14.5 points, assists 4.2 and, steals 1.6 per game. Justin Criddle, from Paola and a redshirt freshman, will try to fill his shoes, and he is one of just three Kansas players on the 15-man roster.
“I want to try and lead the team in the best way I can in order for us to win the conference and get to the tournament,” Criddle said.
Butler lost all of their top three scorers from 2016 in Hardy, Johnnathan Lindsey and Jacolby Harris.
Sophomore Ketarrious Bochum is one of only five returning players from last season. He is the only returning starter and will bring the scoring ability as well. The 6-5 forward will have to take on a bigger leadership role being one of the few returners on the team.
They are also going to look for Antferne Adams in the post to score off of offensive rebounds and to protect the rim. The returning sophomore is a board specialist and looks to improve upon the new opportunity he has been given.
The guards are going to be tested early in the season with the experience lacking. Criddle returns from an ACL injury that held him out of the 2016 campaign, and he will be accompanied with defensive specialist sophomore Karlon McSpadden.
The team also welcomes a new coaching staff, assistants Cameron Parker and Daven Vo, along with Head Coach Bryan Miller.
“I want this team to be competitive in games this season,” Miller said, “We have the same goal every year as a team and that is to win the Region 6 tournament and make it to the NJCAA tournament.”
When asked about some of the new faces on the team Miller said to watch out for Anthony Bratton. Bratton is a 6-7 freshman forward from Omaha, Nebraska. In high school in Nebraska, Bratton averaged 18 points per game as a junior and eight rebounds.
“I want to do my job to help my team win and get to the NJCAA tournament in any way I can,” Bratton said.
