Butler's run got Morehead's Tyndall thinking 'why not'

DENVER — Morehead Coach Donnie Tyndall watched with great interest last year as Butler came within a Gordon Hayward mid-court heave of winning a national championship. When Tyndall looked at his returning roster, he saw some striking similarities to the Bulldogs.

First, like Butler had with Hayward, Tyndall had an NBA first-round pick at his disposal in forward Kenneth Faried. And he viewed senior guard Demonte Harper as a Shelvin Mack-type, a talented and gritty complementary player who could also wind up playing at the next level.

Throw in a steady and experienced supporting cast who accept their roles, and Tyndall immediately set the Sweet 16 as the bar for the 2010-11 Eagles.

It might have seemed a bit ambitious at the time considering the Eagles had to go through Murray State, who knocked off Vanderbilt in last year's tournament, just to get to the Big Dance.

But now the Eagles are one game away from reaching Tyndall's goal, as they will face Richmond in a matchup of No. 12 and 13 seeds for the right to advance to Southwest Regional action next week in San Antonio.

As for Tyndall's big dreams, if you don't want to say that Butler did it, you can certainly say they had a lot to do with it.

"I think what they did was magical," Tyndall said. "It's the type of run that all mid-major teams look at and say, 'Why can't that be us?' I thought when you have a point guard that was arguably going to be the best guard in our league, a big guy like Kenneth who is an All-American, you give yourself a chance to not only make post-season, but have a chance to win a couple games."

In fact, the four teams playing at the Pepsi Center all come from outside the power conferences (BYU and Gonzaga face off in the second game) and the makeup of each team is similar: a name star and/or projected NBA first-round pick (Jimmer Fredette, BYU; Justin Harper and Kevin Anderson, Richmond; Elias Harris and Robert Sacre, Gonzaga) surrounded by players who have been in the program for three or four years.

Tyndall said the mass exodus of players who leave after one or two years to head to the NBA has allowed more mid-majors the opportunity to make a run.

"I don't want to use the 'watered-down' term, but I think it shows how maybe saturated or level the playing field is across college basketball now when you have senior players in your program," Tyndall said. "When you're upperclassmen-dominated, it lends itself to having a good team, an experienced team that can play with poise and confidence in these type of settings."

Tyndall pointed out that Louisville, who lost to Morehead 62-61 on Thursday, lost big man Samardo Samuels two years early to the NBA.

"Think about how good they would have been," Tyndall said. "I think that's what helps level the playing field."

Proffitt-ing from transfer

Notre Dame won its opening-round game on Friday as a No. 2 seed and has emerged as a legitimate Final Four candidate. Morehead junior guard Ty Proffitt could have easily been a part of that run, as he signed with the Irish after leading South Laurel to the 2005 Kentucky state championship. But Proffitt left South Bend after one season and transferred to Morehead. Now he's hoping to have his own run.

Proffitt said he still keeps in contact with former Notre Dame teammates Tom Kopko and Tim Abromaitis, and while he's happy for the success the Irish have had, he knows he made the right move.

"I'm very happy with my decision," Proffitt said. "I wouldn't have said that if I went to a school where the guys weren't my type of guys. These guys are my brothers. I couldn't be happier. Watching Demonte make that shot (against Louisville), seeing T-Hill (junior guard Terrance Hill) playing like he did, and watching Kenneth day in and day out, it makes it all worth it."

Tyndall said Proffitt has settled into his role in his third year in the program.

"I think early on during his first year, he was shocked at how good of players we had in our program," Tyndall said. "He certainly was shocked at how hard we worked. He told me, 'Coach, no offense to Coach (Mike) Brey, he's a great coach, but we don't work nearly as hard there as we do here. Then this year what he's become is our vocal leader. He's a guy that, even though he's not our best player, he's arguably our hardest worker. He's the voice in the locker room. He's the guy that the players respect. When he does talk, it's not fraudulent or fake in any way. When he speaks, our players listen. He's kind of become a coach on the floor for us."

Matchup zone vs. Princeton offense

Richmond Coach Chris Mooney was a four-year starter for Hall of Fame Coach Pete Carril at Princeton, leading them to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Spiders run a variation of the Princeton offense, a system that features a lot of motion and backdoor cuts.

Morehead State has been primarily a matchup zone team defensively, and zones can often neutralize a lot of the backdoor cuts that come with the Princeton offense.

Mooney said Richmond must be ready to adjust.

"It's going to be more about our players than the Princeton offense," Mooney said. "The most important thing for us is to take care of the ball. They're a very disruptive team with their pressure and the type of zone they play."

This story was originally published March 19, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Butler's run got Morehead's Tyndall thinking 'why not'."