Earlier this week, UConn announced that Caron Butler will be honored at Saturday’s game when he is inducted into the Huskies of Honor. His name and number will hang on the wall of Gampel Pavilion amongst the best players (plus coaches and one athletic director) in UConn history. We received a lot of Butler-centric mailbag questions this week, so we thought we’d honor Caron ourselves with a special edition ‘bag with three questions about the former Husky forward answered by each of our staff writers. Let’s go.
Remember: If your question wasn’t answered or you’ve been living under a rock and are just hearing about this, you can submit your questions here or on Twitter (@ADimeBack).
Tom asks: of the UConn sophs who went to NBA early, which player would’ve had most impact in junior year?
Russ Steinberg: I’m going to go with Rudy Gay, mainly because the team he would have returned to was so freaking bad that he would have had the chance to impact so much. If you recall, he would have returned to that dreadful 17-14 team in 2006-07 that included freshman versions of Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins, Stanley Robinson, Hasheem Thabeet, AJ Price, Curtis Kelly and Jonathan Mandeldove. Compare that to Villanueva, who would have returned to a team that really should have won the national championship and Butler, who would have returned to a team that was a year away from a national championship. Sure, if either of them returned, UConn may have had an additional ring, but there wasn’t nearly as much room for improvement on those teams. The 2007 team lost four games by four points and if Gay had made the difference in those, UConn goes from 17-14 to 21-10 and is either a bubble team or a strong NIT team.
Tyler Wilkinson: I think Butler is the obvious answer here but I am intrigued by the Villanueva argument. Butler on the 2003 team would’ve likely bumped UConn’s least productive front court members (Marcus White and Hilton Armstrong) down the depth chart and provided an insane scoring lift for a team anchored by youngsters Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor and senior Tony Robertson. Considering Butler’s 2002 squad nearly reached a Final Four, and the 2004 team won a national championship, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that Butler’s presence in 2003 takes that squad from their Sweet Sixteen performance into another Final Four. That’s impactful. Quick shout to Jeremy Lamb, who was dope but won’t be anyone’s answer because of UConn’s 2013 Tournament ban.
Peter Bard: I firmly believe that Charlie Villanueva would have made the difference between the 2006 team bowing out in the elite eight and winning the championship. Armstrong and Boone were both good big men, but they were a little redundant, and neither was tremendously skilled. Villanueva provided a powerful 4 man with a great touch and passing ability down low, he could shoot, and he would have been a nightmare for the George Mason goons to contain. Beating Florida would have been a challenge that year, but I believe that Villanueva puts them over the top.
Meghan Bard: I have to say Butler, because 2003 was my senior year (yes, I missed BOTH the 1999 and the 2004 championships, and yes, I’m still bitter about it) and I think if he stayed that team had a real shot at the title. That line-up, with Caron, Meka, Gordon, Browns (Taliek and Denham), Slash and Supertone, could definitely have gone all the way. And because it would have meant getting to watch them win a #trophy while I was there, then that’s where I’m living.
JLK asks: with Caron Butler rightfully going into the Huskies of honor, where does he stand on the all-time list? Was AWESOME in his 2 yrs.
Meghan: I’ve got Butler at about number 7. Ray, Kemba, Okafor, Yell, Hamilton, Bazz, Butler and Gordon. It’s almost a toss-up between Butler and Gordon, but I give the edge to Butler.
Peter: Butler, to me, is the best tier-2 guy in program history. There are six tier-1 players: Ray Allen, Kemba Walker, Emeka Okafor, Richard Hamilton, Donyell Marshall, and Shabazz Napier. Caron is just a notch below those guys, but might have moved to the top of the list with one more year in Storrs.
Tyler: When we did the Ultimate UConn Challenge back in 2013, we had Butler as a 2-seed. You, the voters, had him out in the Elite Eight in a loss to Ray Allen. Since then, Shabazz Napier entered the conversation but I still think Butler’s appropriately ranked in the 5-8 range. Without putting a ton of thought into it, I’d go Walker, Allen, Okafor, Hamilton, Napier, Marshall, Gordon, Butler.
Russ: If he had stayed another year (which would have been really dumb), he would be top 5 without question. Instead, Butler has to settle for top 10 behind the Mount Rushmore of Huskies (Allen, Marshall, Hamilton, Walker) and probably Gordon and Okafor too. Note that four of the players listed have rings. The tournament is a great way for players to cement their legacies in a short period of time. Butler came so close in 2002. I hate Juan Dixon.
Joe asks: Who do you think is the next Husky to go into the Huskies of Honor? After @realtuffjuice [Butler] of course.
Peter: Other than Gordon, who will be in as soon as they can get him in town [as mentioned in this additional mailbag question from Daniel], it should be Doron Sheffer. Obviously this also presents an availability problem, but I hope they get it worked out. I think a lot of younger fans don’t realize what a tremendous player Sheffer was. He was every bit the player that Khalid El-Amin was, though without the Khalid magic. One of the best passers in the history of the program, and one of the best shooters, as well. If he had tried to make it in the NBA, he probably could have. Instead, he went back to Israel and led powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Avin to several Euroleague titles.
Meghan: I’m going with the Iceman himself, Doron Sheffer. Despite living in Israel, and eschewing the NBA (he got drafted by the Clippers but decided to play pro ball at home) he was one of the all-time UConn greats. When he graduated, he was the first UConn player to have at least 1,300 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds. If you haven’t watched some of those mid-90s games, you are missing out. Sheff was an incredible passer, and he and Ollie usually played together, with Ray Allen at the 3. It’s going to be really cold this weekend, so you should stay home, head on over to UConn Husky Games and watch the Israeli Assassin do work.
Tyler: My answer here is based partially on merit and partially on convenience, and it’s Hasheem Thabeet. Despite the big man’s spectacular flameout of an NBA career, he is the second best center in the program’s history and led the team to a Final Four. His UConn career is worthy of honor. The convenience part is because Thabeet isn’t playing ball anymore (at least not professionally that I can tell) and getting him to Storrs to hang a banner should be easier than some others who are in other continents.
Russ: The next Husky of Honor will be Rodney Purvis, and you can look forward to his induction on Tuesday, April 5, the day UConn returns home from Houston with their fifth national championship trophy. As has become tradition, the Final Four MOP will be enshrined at the welcome home rally at Gampel. Or it will be Thabeet, idk.
Until Rique & Co arrive to light up Stoors, I vote Rodney too! Love that kid. He’s capable of turning up the temperature in March