All about the 'Dogs

The Butler Bulldogs have become the undisputed kings of basketball in Indiana.
Their rise to prominence with the run to the national championship game last season was nothing short of amazing. And had star player Gordon Hayward stayed with the team instead of leaving for the NBA after his sophomore season, Butler would have been on everyone’s radar as a team capable of making another run.
Instead, the Bulldogs started the regular-season 13-9 and were in the middle of the pack in the Horizon League. No one could have expected the small university from Indianapolis to bounce back string together 14 straight wins for a return trip to the Final Four, not even those closest to it.
“Especially with the season that we had. I was wondering if we were even going to make it into the tournament,” said Bulldogs cheerleader Erika Hunt in a phone interview Friday from Houston. “To be here is very cool, and I’m glad to experience it again.”
She represents one of several local ties to the Butler squad.
Jay County fans know several of the Bulldog players well, as senior captain Matt Howard played against the Patriots during his high school career at Connersville and New Castle graduates Zach Hahn and Chase Stigall were part of the team that defeated JCHS in the 2006 Class 3A state championship game. In addition, Portland natives Mark and Chris Hearn have been to every Bulldogs tournament game over the last two seasons, and
Hunt, a 2008 Jay County High School graduate, was part of Butler’s whirlwind experience last season when she was one of just two sophomore cheerleaders to be selected to travel with the team throughout the NCAA tournament. She enjoyed trips to San Jose and Salt Lake City before cheering on her Bulldogs in their home town during the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium.
This year’s tournament has sent Butler to Washington, D.C., for its first two games, New Orleans for the regional rounds and now Houston for the Final Four.
Hunt said this season has been just a little crazier than last year, when she was able to attend classes the week of the Final Four because the games were being played just a few miles from campus.
She was in class for just two days this week before flying to Texas with her fellow cheerleaders, the pep band and the Bulldog players.She said on the flight she chatted with Stigall about their experience five years ago, when she was a Patriot cheerleader and he was the No. 2 scorer behind Hahn on New Castle’s state championship team.
 “It was just kind of funny to see how far we’ve come from there,” she said.
Tyler Rigby led the Patriots in scoring in that state championship game, in which he played against both Stigall and Hahn.
Rigby went on to an impressive collegiate career of his own, breaking Indiana University East’s school scoring record and leading the Red Wolves to their first NAIA national tournament berth this season. He said he’s happy to see his former rivals having such great success.
“For me, it was a great experience,” Rigby said of his national tournament trip this year. “Obviously they’re on a bigger stage, but the feeling is the same, I’m sure. They’re just excited as I was. … No matter what level you’re at, going to a national tournament is an accomplishment.
“It’s good to see somebody from around where we’re from … go and do some major things in the world and get seen in a national spotlight.
“Just knowing that I played against them and they’re doing so well, it’s just pretty cool to see.”
Corey Comer, who was a junior on the Jay County state runner-up team, also has a unique perspective when watching the Bulldogs play. He matched up with Howard for all four years of his high school career.
Comer said he’s been impressed with the player Howard has become. He praised the senior, who hit the game-winning shot against Old Dominion in the first round and the game-winning free throw against No. 1 seed Pittsburgh to put his team into the Sweet 16, as a smart player who always hustles.
“Watching them now, on TV, it’s different,” said Comer. “It’s awesome to be able to sit there and say, ‘I played against them in high school.’
“It makes the NCAA a lot more interesting to watch when you’re watching people you played against.”
Comer was one of five players, along with John Retter, Zac Green, Randy Evans and Scott Bruggeman, on the JCHS state finals team who averaged between 6.6 and 9.2 points. And Rigby was the leader at just 11.7.
"I think that team right there is exactly the way our state team was,” said Comer. “They don't have a lot of superstars and they’re not very big. We didn't a have a lot of superstars, but we played very well together. You don't need a stacked team if you have heart and you play well together.
"They play Indiana basketball. That's what they do."
And that’s part of why the Bulldogs’ resonate so well with their fans, among whom Portland High School graduates Mark and Chris Hearn are a couple of the biggest.
After graduating from PHS in 1967, Mark went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at Butler. And he’s rarely missed a home game over the last 15 years.
He and brother Chris have been in attendance at every tournament game over the last two seasons, enjoying the victories every step of the way.
“It has just been amazing,” said Chris, a 1966 PHS graduate. “It’s just great, great basketball. The kids are really smart to start with. That’s a lot of it. A lot of it is poise and mental attitude. They never give up.”
“It’s just been terrific, and such a surprise,” said Mark, describing the Butler community as a family. “You couldn’t make this one up.”
The Bulldogs needed a tip-in at the buzzer just to defeat Old Dominion 60-58 in the opening round, and then edged Pitt by one in a game that included a pair of fouls in the closing seconds. After topping Wisconsin in the regional semifinal, they rallied from 11 points down with less than 10 minutes to go to defeat Florida in overtime in the regional championship.
Those wins have led the team, and Hunt, to Houston, where the Bulldogs will take on another Cinderella team, Virginia Commonwealth, in the first of two national semifinal games Saturday.
Hunt and her fellow cheerleaders went to Friday’s practice at The Reliant Center, and her day today includes trips to four different events, including three pep rallies, all over the city of Houston. If the Bulldogs are victorious and reach the national title game for the second straight year, the cheerleaders have been told they could make an appearance on The Early Show Monday morning.
Like last season, the junior said didn’t want to make any predictions so as to not jinx the team, but she also noted that she’s confident that the Bulldogs can win. More than anything, she’s thankful for the opportunities being a Butler cheerleader has afforded her.
“I did not expect to be in the Final Four two years in a row,” Hunt said. “It’s kind of funny because most people say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience …
“I didn’t think I would get this many opportunities at all. God has blessed me so much, leading me to come to Butler … I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”[[In-content Ad]]