Butler Makes Presence Felt in Due Time

Mitchell Butler didn’t score a point and didn’t grab a rebound during the first quarter of San Fernando Valley’s game against Reno in the first round of the American Roundball Corp.’s Future Stars Showdown on Wednesday night at Notre Dame High.

But don’t entertain the thought that last season’s Times’ Valley Player of the Year has lost the touch that brought the Southern Section Small Schools’ title to Oakwood High; the touch that has made him one of the most sought-after recruits in the West.

To the contrary.

Butler had to sit out the first quarter because San Fernando had less than 10 players suited up. In such a case, ARC rules allow an opposing coach to choose two players who must sit out until the second quarter.

Thus, Butler had to sit out the first eight minutes. It wasn’t as if the team needed him in a 97-41 dismantling of Reno. San Fernando, with 6-foot, 7-inch Tracy Murray of Glendora, 6-7 Danny Griffin of Crenshaw and 6-2 Nick Sanderson of Bell-Jeff, has one of the most talented teams in the tournament.

But Butler, recognized by most college scouts as the premier player for San Fernando, didn’t get a chance to display his talent until his teammates had built a 40-9 first-quarter lead.

While the likes of Arizona Coach Lute Olson, UCLA Coach Jim Harrick and Cal Coach Lou Campanelli watched from the stands, Butler sat patiently on the bench, yelling tips to his teammates. Then he took the floor for 17 minutes and scored 17 points--on 8-of-11 shooting--grabbed 4 rebounds and had 3 steals.

Yes, Butler can still do it.

He returned last week from the Nike All-American Camp in Princeton, N. J., a forum for the best of America’s high school players.

And while observers in the West have touted Butler for two years, his jump shot was recently questioned in a Southern California newspaper. It bothered him about as much as having to sit out the first quarter.

“I don’t believe in reading all the articles that are written,” said Butler, who will be a senior at Oakwood in the fall. “You get too worried. I thought at Nike I played well. I’m concerned with what coaches think.”

And what do coaches think?

“All year long people have been saying that Mitch Butler is one of the best players in the country,” Olson said. “And his performance at Nike only verified what people have thought for a long time.”

So there. Butler has been working this summer on preparing his game for the major college level. He has been practicing his outside shot with his ARC coach from last year, Ken Croft.

“Just really taking my game to another level, moving it up a notch,” Butler said. “Playing with a higher mentality.”

Butler is playing at a higher physical level as well: He has grown an inch and is visibly more muscular.

“That’s what people have been telling me,” Butler said. “I’m not lifting weights, I just go out and run. I guess it all adds up. But one more inch and I’ll be satisfied.”

Whether 6-6 or 6-7, Butler is an attractive prospect at off-guard or small forward. Butler spoke of UCLA, Arizona and Duke as college possibilities but admits that the door is wide open.

Yet before Butler thinks too much about college, he must help Oakwood make the transition from the Small Schools Division to the 1-A.

“It’s going to be a lot harder,” Butler said. “We lost a point guard and a post player, but if we work at it we can be there.”

Still, Butler admits that most of his improvement comes at ARC.

“It’s the intensity. The college scouts are there and you know you have to perform,” he said.