Former UA Player Jared Butler Wins National Championship
The Baylor men's basketball team came out on top as the winners of The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, with their 86-70 win over Gonzaga on Monday night.
For Alabama Crimson Tide fans this meant watching former UA commit Jared Butler shine on the big stage.
Butler, a 4-star point guard from Reserve, LA was a member of the 2018 signing class and was excited to get the chance to play for Avery Johnson.
The reason for his transfer was speculated by a lot of media members. Some said it was a heart issue that kept him from passing medical clearance, others believe it was because 5- star in-state prospect Kira Lewis decided to forgo his senior year of high school and commit to Bama.
Regardless of what the actual reason was, Butler decided to put his name in the transfer portal, where he eventually made the decision to commit to the University of Baylor.
In his first year in Waco, Butler averaged 10.2 points, shooting 35.1% from beyond the arc. Steadily improving, he averaged 16 points as a sophomore and 16.7 this year as a junior.
On Monday night he was a big-time contributor in the team's win with 22 points, and perfect from the free-throw line.
When Butler made the decision to return to Baylor and not declare for the 2020 NBA Draft, he had one goal in mind.
"Baylor, I'm coming back," Butler said this summer. "Let's go win a national championship."
In 2020 Butler was a Consensus first-team All American, named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, and the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Butler has yet to announce if he will will be entering the 2021 NBA Draft, however, it can be presumed that he will.
It's hard to imagine what could've been if Butler had decided to stick around at Alabama, but regardless this team still had an impressive year of their own.
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