CPD
Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball guard Jamar Butler a tough nut to crack
Friday, March 14, 2008Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- On the same June day in 2004 that Jamar Butler finished a tour of the Ohio State dorms, he found out his coach had been fired. Four years later, everything about Buckeyes men's basketball has changed except
OSU's senior point guard.
The winningest player in Ohio State history, so famously grumpy after defeats, has been the con stant, the link from coach Jim O'Brien to coach Thad Matta, from center Terence Dials to center Kosta Koufos, from a 2005 postseason ban to the 2007 Final Four. Over four years, he has started 111 games with 15 other players, switched positions from point guard to shooting guard and back again, emerged as Ohio State's all-time leader in assists and 3-pointers, and made his name as a defender, distributor and scorer.
"We always felt like no matter who came or who went, he was always kind of the glue," said his mother, Nancy. "He was always a needed piece to the puzzle no matter what team it was."
All the while, he remained a mystery.
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