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EL DORADO, Kan. – From preseason unranked to the No. 8 nationally ranked NJCAA D1 team in two weeks. The Butler men's basketball squad has turned some heads.
The NJCAA put out its first set of in-season rankings for the 2024-25 season on Tuesday and the Grizzlies found themselves slotted in at No. 8.
It marks Butler's highest position in the rankings since the 2021-22 season when they were ranked No. 7 in the week two poll.
The Grizzlies are the second highest ranked KJCCC team behind only No. 2 Barton, the defending national champions. Hutchinson rounds out the ranked Jayhawk schools coming in at No. 15. Cowley, Coffeyville and Garden City are all receiving votes.
Butler is off to a 5-0 start, holding wins over at the time No. 11 Indian Hills (87-86) at their place as well as an 85-82 win over then No. 14 NEO in Ark City as part of the Cowley Classic. Indian Hills is now 3-1 and moved up a spot to No. 10 and NEO (3-1) fell to No. 18. Butler has handed both of those teams their only losses this season.
First year head coach Eric Nitsche and the Grizzlies have yet to play at home, taking part in two road tournaments as well as beating NOC-Tonkawa on the road, 93-84, on Nov. 5th. Their next action is the home opener at the Power Plant, set for Nov. 20th at 7:30 p.m. when NOC-Tonkawa makes the return trip to El Dorado.
Butler ranks third nationally across NJCAA D1 with 60 made threes. The Grizzlies are also one of four unbeatens remaining in the KJCCC, having played the most games in the league up to this point. Butler is averaging 89.4 points per game while shooting 78.9% from the free throw line (71-90). Sophomore guard Bubba Leavell, a transfer from Highland, is leading Butler with 14.8 points per game, shooting 41.7 percent from deep (20-48). He has led the Grizzlies in scoring in four of five games so far. Freshman forward Emeka Opurum is averaging 11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Sophomore guard Russell Branch, a Hutchinson transfer, is right behind Opurum with 5.6 rebounds per game.
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