It's no secret Butler basketball has had the quite a run of success over the last 20 years or so especially when you think about its status as a mid-major program for the bulk of that time (Butler moved to the Big East in 2013).
The hoops program, despite unintentionally operating as a feeder to larger schools, has relied on locating up-and-coming head coaches and combining that young leadership talent with a philosophy known as The Butler Way.
First introduced by legendary coach and administrator, Tony Hinkle, then revived and modified by then-hoops coach Barry Collier, The Butler Way is really a set of principles to apply on and off the court in search of greatness.
From ButlerSports.com, The Butler Way can be defined as:
The Butler Way...
demands commitment, denies selfishness,
accepts reality, yet seeks improvement everyday
while putting the team above self.
Within that overarching philosophy, the pillars include:
Humility - know who we are, strengths and weaknesses
Passion - do not be lukewarm, commit to excellence
Unity - do not divide our house, team first
Servanthood - make teammates better, lead by giving
Thankfulness - learn from every circumstance
For the ill-informed or non-competitive such words can be dismissed but for guys like Collier, Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, Brad Stevens and now new Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann, they all chose to adopt the The Butler Way during the respective tenures and the results put Butler basketball on the map.
Instilling a culture focused on those pillars along with playing smart, functioning as a selfless unit and giving it up on the defensive end have helped Butler record 14 NCAA tournament appearances over the last 21 years (most of which, again, were spent as a mid-major) including eight bids over the last 10 years with two national runner up finishes.
Specific to Holtmann, he's taken Butler to three straight NCAA tournaments including a run to the Sweet 16 last year despite being picked to finish sixth in the Big East (he finished second).
Just as Matta arrived and righted a ship off course as the Jim O'Brien saga ended with Ohio State facing a postseason ban, Holtmann must now come in and turn around a program on a four-year decline thanks to Matta's failing health and an on-court product lacking consistent toughness, discipline and passion.
Rest assured Holtmann will lean on the pillars of The Butler Way to give Ohio State's roster an immediate wake up call similar to how Urban Meyer leverages Focus 3 and their E+R+O philosophy to build leaders, develop character and produce winners.
