Nolan Berry, Butler’s top 2013 recruit, recently broke both arms during practice. During the 2012 summer season, the De Smet Jesuit Senior from Saint Louis (and grandson of SLU standout Ed Macauley) traveled with the St. Louis Eagles but missed much of the summer after he suffered a knee injury in July. What does this mean for Butler?
Along with Rotnei Clark (PG) and Chase Stigall, the Bulldogs will lose starting center Andrew Smith. Berry was expected to compete for Smith’s starting position, along with recruit Andrew Chrabascz (Ashburnham, MA – Cushing Academy), and current Junior Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN – Bloomington South). Berry will certainly still be competitive for that starting position, but likely less so as he will see limited playing time during the previous calendar year due to both summer and fall injuries.
Fortunately for Butler, Stevens and Co. still has two open scholarships for the 2013-14 season, thanks to the transfer of Chris Harrison-Docks and the expulsion of Chrishawn Hopkins. As of right now, there are only two prospects known to be on Butler’s radar, which follows Butler’s traditional recruiting strategy of only recruiting hard one player per scholarship. Neither player is a center, with Elijah Brown (Santa Ana, CA – Mater Dei) and Darius Thompson (Murfeesboro, TN – Blackman) each standing at only 6’3″. However, only Thompson is known to have an offer. With this recent development, Butler may decide to target a 6’8″+ prospect rather than continue to recruit Brown.
