Second-half injury prevents Da’Sean Butler from helping West Virginia make late run
by DeAntae Prince
IU Final Four News Bureau
April 4, 2010 1:09 a.m.
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins consoles forward Da’Sean Butler after he was injured during the second half against Duke in the men’s semifinal Saturday, April 3, 2010, in Indianapolis. (Associated Press / Darron Cummings)
Da’Sean Butler sat in the West Virginia locker room with ice taped to his knee and crutches at his side.
The West Virginia forward sprained his knee on a drive with 8:59 left in the second half. He tried to skip around Duke center Brian Zoubek and felt pressure in his leg when he planted.
“I’m a coward,” he said following the Blue Devils’ 78-57 victory over West Virginia in a national semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis Saturday night. “I thought I hurt it more. And it isn’t really as bad as I thought it was and it’s just a matter of me getting better now.”
Butler was obviously being hard on himself.
That approach is what made West Virginia coach Bob Huggins fear the worst. He said the resilience Butler has shown in the past forced him to believe his star player had sustained a major injury.
“I knew it was bad because Da’s really a tough guy,” Huggins said.
Butler lay on the ground, flexing his arms as the trainer examined his knee. He said he was afraid that he couldn’t move it but found out he could once he had it examined.
Huggins walked out to the court and spoke to Butler. He said Butler was more worried about the welfare of his teammates than himself.
“When I went out, it was more he felt more like he let the team down than it was about the injury,” Huggins said. “And that’s Da’Sean. That’s the way he is.”
Butler was also worried about Huggins.
He said his coach had improved his game over the past three years, and that he was hoping to repay him with a national championship.
“I was just apologizing,” he said. “More than anything, I wanted to win it for him.”
Butler had just begun to help his teammates accomplish what he wanted for Huggins. After a first half with only two points, he put in eight in the second half before the injury.
Forward Devin Ebanks said it was tough to see his teammate on the floor.
“It’s very frustrating seeing our best player go down – especially when we’re trying to make our run,” Ebanks said.
When the game was done and Butler was in the locker room, he was already beginning to heal mentally. He told jokes to reporters and tried to stay positive in what he said was his first real injury scare.
“I’ll ice it and I’ll get it checked up on later,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me today. They gave me these cool crutches, though.”
The Blue Devils fans chanted his name when he sat on the floor. He wished Duke well, just like its fans had done for him.
“Congrats to them,” he said. “And hopefully they win. We don’t want the team that beat us to lose.”
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.
