Butler Suffers ACL Tear
An unbelievable senior season has came to an unfortunate end for West Virginia’s All-American Da’Sean Butler. Not only did Butler and the Mountaineers fall short of a National Championship, but injured his knee more severely than anticipated. Butler was diagnosed with with a torn ACL, a sprained MCL, and two bone bruises, all in his left knee. This was confirmed at St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis on Sunday.
The unfortunate incident occurred with 8:59 left to play as he collided with Duke’s Brian Zoubek while driving the baseline. Butler yelled in pain as soon as he met the floor as he awaited assistance from the trainer. He was eventually helped off by a trainer and teammate Deniz Kilicli, having his left leg waddling behind as he was unable to put any weight on it. The West Virginia fans showed their appreciation to Butler as they chanted “Da’Sean, Da’Sean” as he was lifted onto a golf cart to head into the locker room.
Coach Bob Huggins marched right onto the court to comfort his star player as he was barking at the referees “”They [the Blue Devils] don’t foul, right, John? They don’t foul.” He came over to Da’Sean, knelt down next to him, and leaned over face-to-face as he exchanged words to attempt and ease the pain. Butler was not worried about his NBA career at the time, but felt like he let his team down in trying to win a National Championship.
“I was apologizing to him,” Butler said. “I wanted so bad to win it all for him. He has done so much for me. It was the one thing I wanted to get for him and couldn’t get for him.” West Virginia fans do not have to be told that they have a good coach who is loyal and loves his players like the one that they have now. His response to Da’Sean’s frustration was simply “Don’t be sorry and I love you.”
This kind of injury will require surgery and will take away his opportunity to workout for franchises before this June’s NBA Draft.
Da’Sean Butler finished the season averaging 17.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. He is not only a great player, but a better person which has been said a numerous amount of time by Coach Huggins. This is one the hardest working kids and will do whatever it takes to play at the next level.