INDIANAPOLIS — As a senior, Nick Rodgers of Butler has scored six of the team’s 2,374 points. He has made one start for the Bulldogs and averages 1.2 minutes per game.
And although this walk-on guard from Noblesville, Ind., has grabbed no rebounds this year and hasn’t attempted a free throw, Bulldogs starter Ronald Nored said Rodgers is just as much a part of the team’s historic Final Four run as anyone else.
“He comes into practice every day, and he busts it,” Nored said. “He wants to win this. He wants to give us the best look as if he were a Michigan State player.”
Whether it’s Rodgers helping his team in practice or senior West Virginia guard Da’Sean Butler leading his team in assists, steals, minutes and points, senior leadership is prominent in the Final Four.
“It helps tremendously just to have someone that’s out there and knows what they’re doing and is an extension of your coach,” Butler said. “I’ve come along with the system this year. From the beginning of the year, I kind of made an emphasis for myself to be a leader for this team and be consistent. I think I’ve done it very well.”
Raymar Morgan, a senior forward for Michigan State, will finish his career with 1,600 points and 750 rebounds, his coach, Tom Izzo, said.
Izzo compared Morgan to “a good piece of apple pie.”
“You crave a little bit more all the time,” Izzo said. “He’s a good student, he’s a great kid … The guy has been asked to do so many things that it’s almost unfair.”
One of Duke’s senior leaders, guard Jon Scheyer, watched his team develop from its first-round NCAA Tournament exit in his freshman year to a championship contender in his last year of eligibility.
“I was just really disappointed and just really hurt,” Scheyer said of the hardships early in his collegiate career. “Being at this point and being able to look back, I don’t know if I’d be here without those moments.”
Despite his experiences and all he has overcome to get to the big stage in Indianapolis this year, Scheyer said being in the Final Four should feel just as special for every one of his teammates – including underclassmen.
“Hopefully, they have the same attitude that they feel like this is their last opportunity, too, even though it might not be,” he said. “There’s no guarantees anybody’s getting back here. Even if I wasn’t a senior, I’d act like it.”
Just as there are no guarantees in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, seniors face uncertainty as they prepare for their final minutes as Bulldogs, Spartans, Mountaineers or Blue Devils.
Undoubtedly, some will face devastation – others, glory. But another uncertainty – the uncertainty of the future after college basketball – hasn’t occured to some until recently.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Butler said. “Honestly, you just have to play. It sucks, obviously, but I get the opportunity to move on and do other things in my life in terms of basketball, hopefully.”
Regardless of the outcome, Rodgers will never again have a chance to step on the floor during a game in Hinkle Fieldhouse. All that’s left now is to make the most of 40 minutes Saturday against Michigan State.
“They really want to win this, and they’re having fun doing it,” Nored said. “They’re going to go out on the highest note they can.”
Butler termed this season, in which he earned third-team All-American honors, as a “pretty decent” year for him. He doesn’t know what is to come. All he can do now is take a brief look back on the good he has done for his team and then turn back toward the upcoming matchup against Duke on Saturday.
“Not many people have done the things I’ve done for the school,” he said. “This right here will be memorable for me. I’ll probably remember this moment forever.”
A team of Indiana University journalists is reporting for the Final Four Student News Bureau, a project between IU’s National Sports Journalism Center and the NCAA at the men’s tournament in Indianapolis.
