The Butler Bulldogs search for Brad Stevens' replacement as men's basketball coach is down to two assistant coaches with ties to the school, the Indianapolis Star is reporting.
Brandon Miller, a current Butler assistant and former Bulldogs player, and LaVall Jordan, an assistant on the national runner-up Michigan team this past season who is also a former Butler player and assistant are the two finalists for the job, according to the Star.
Stevens, who guided the school to the NCAA Tournament championship game in 2010 and 2011, made the shocking announcement Wednesday that he was leaving the school to become head coach of the Boston Celtics.
That came two days after the Bulldogs officially became members of the revamped Big East Conference.
Butler athletic director Barry Collier met with current players on the roster and asked what characteristics they wanted in their next head coach, the Star reported.
"We told him we want someone who is familiar with Butler basketball and knows our identity," forward Khyle Marshall told the newspaper Wednesday night.
Both Miller and Jordan fit the mold.
Miller is a native of New Castle, Ind., who first attended Southwest Missouri State and played for current UCLA head coach Steve Alford. When Alford left for Purdue, Miller transferred to Butler.
The Star said Miller started all 97 games he played for the Bulldogs and was part of the team's Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
Miller was an assistant at Butler in 2007 before moving onto Ohio State for four years. He coached at Illinois last season and rejoined the Butler staff in April.
Jordan has spent the past four seasons at Michigan and reportedly had a key role in the development of Trey Burke, the consensus National Player of the Year last season.
Jordan spent the previous three years at Iowa under Todd Lickliter, the former coach at Butler. Jordan was an assistant at Butler from 2004-07.
He played for the Bulldogs from 1998-2001. Butler won two Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular-season championships and three conference tournament titles, and they won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game with a 79-63 victory over Wake Forest in 2001.
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