DePauw Connections of Coach Brad Stevens '99 Factor Into Newspaper Story

March 23, 2011

March 23, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — John Broughton, athletic director at Indiana's Pendleton Heights High School, "has known [Butler University head men's basketball coach Brad] Stevens since he was a freshman at DePauw University in 1995," reports today's Anderson Herald Bulletin. "Among Stevens' teammates with the Tigers was Broughton's son, Matt, and they remain best friends today. The elder Broughton's world further entwined with Stevens' last summer when the Bulldogs' coach aggressively stepped up his recruitment of Pendleton Heights star Kellen Dunham. When Dunham verbally committed to Butler in July, he joined a long list of recent Arabians connections to the university."

George Bremer's story recalls how Stevens, a Management Fellow and economics major at DePauw, took a job at Eli Lilly following his 1999 graduation, only to quit for a volunteer coaching position.  Now in his fourth season as Butler's head coach, Stevens has led the Bulldogs to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA tournament a year after his team lost a heartbreaker in the national championship game versus Duke. His 114 victories are the most ever compiled by a Division I coach in his first four seasons.

Bremer writes, "Broughton remembers long talks on the deck with Stevens while he was still a Butler assistant. The AD considers himself an Indiana University fan first and foremost, and he loved to pick Stevens’ brain about possible Hoosiers recruits. But the questions went both ways.
'I remember him asking me how Matt Howard was at Connersville because we played them,' Broughton said. 'I gave him my opinion, and what a great player he turned out to be.' Howard has become the face of the Bulldogs’ most recent run with a game-winning tip-in against Old Dominion and a clinching free-throw at the end of a wild final 2.2 seconds against Pittsburgh."

John Broughton's son, Matt, is a 1997 DePauw graduate.

You'll find the complete article at the newspaper's website.

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated again noted the relationship between Brad Stevens and his head coach at DePauw, Bill Fenlon, and the latter's paper, 'Up Three: To Foul Or Not To Foul.' In June, a half-hour program on FOX Sports Midwest focused on Stevens' success at Butler University and included comments from Fenlon.

On April 13, 2010, Stevens returned to his alma mater to deliver the Robert C. McDermond Lecture.

Also available is an online profile of Brad Stevens.

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