ge1974
05-13-2013, 11:35 AM
http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls-talk/jimmy-butler-long-winding-road
Just a year later Butler was named a JUCO All-American and received scholarship offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, Clemson and Iowa State, but he ultimately decided to attend Marquette University under head coach Buzz Williams who made an interesting first impression on Butler.
“Buzz, he’s a country guy just like I am; from a little town in Texas. But the main thing that got me about him was whenever he got to Tyler to start recruiting Joe [Fost], he watched me play,” Butler said. “The very first thing he said to me was, ‘Jimmy, you suck.’ I was like ‘Oh, I don’t even know you.’ I just knew him as a coach. That’s not the first thing you are supposed to say to somebody.
“So you know he came around as the games came by, he was like, ‘You know what? I like the way you play hard. You’re a tough kid. If I ever had a head coaching job, I’d take you.’ Right now he’s an assistant at Marquette under Tom Crean. I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever coach. I got this school recruiting me now.’ But that stuck in my head. The Marquette job loosened up and he got the job. He called me at like 2 a.m. and said, ‘Well I got the job at Marquette and I want you to come play.’ Instantly I was like, I’m coming, because he told me the truth from Day 1, besides the fact that I sucked.”
Just a year later Butler was named a JUCO All-American and received scholarship offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, Clemson and Iowa State, but he ultimately decided to attend Marquette University under head coach Buzz Williams who made an interesting first impression on Butler.
“Buzz, he’s a country guy just like I am; from a little town in Texas. But the main thing that got me about him was whenever he got to Tyler to start recruiting Joe [Fost], he watched me play,” Butler said. “The very first thing he said to me was, ‘Jimmy, you suck.’ I was like ‘Oh, I don’t even know you.’ I just knew him as a coach. That’s not the first thing you are supposed to say to somebody.
“So you know he came around as the games came by, he was like, ‘You know what? I like the way you play hard. You’re a tough kid. If I ever had a head coaching job, I’d take you.’ Right now he’s an assistant at Marquette under Tom Crean. I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever coach. I got this school recruiting me now.’ But that stuck in my head. The Marquette job loosened up and he got the job. He called me at like 2 a.m. and said, ‘Well I got the job at Marquette and I want you to come play.’ Instantly I was like, I’m coming, because he told me the truth from Day 1, besides the fact that I sucked.”