Alone at the free-throw line, one would have expected Caron Butler’s only thoughts to be centered on helping UConn advance to the Sweet 16. But Sunday afternoon, Butler’s mind drifted to where he’s been and how far he’s come.
“I reflect every day, when I’m at the free-throw line, or at a tough time in a game I try to reflect and keep moving forward,” Butler said. “You just can’t give it up, and I feel losing is giving it up, so I just keep trying to win and succeed on the basketball court as well as in life.”
Butler nailed five consecutive free throws in the final 11.4 seconds – completing a career-best 34-point performance – to nudge the Huskies to a 77-74 victory over N.C. State, moving UConn into Friday’s matchup with upstart Southern Illinois in the East regional at Syracuse. In what will surely be his final go-round in his first NCAA Tournament – NBA riches await him – Butler finally has everything going his way.
For so long, Butler’s life appeared headed in a completely different direction. Immersed in gang life at age 14 in Racine, Wis. he was arrested when after bringing cocaine and firearms to high school. Because of his criminal record, Butler was sent to an adult jail for six months before moving to a juvenile facility to complete the remaining nine months of his sentence.
Out of the darkness of that desultory situation, Butler somehow put the brakes on his tale of woe. Today he is a powerful 6-7 forward with an NBA body and skills, a sophomore who is 22 years old with two children – one a six-year old daughter – and destined to be a lottery pick. He said it was “a beautiful thing” to hear the chants of “One more year” at the Garden on the way to winning the Most Outstanding Player award for guiding UConn to the Big East Tournament title, but it is not really conceivable that Butler will return to Storrs.
“I’m trying to focus right here on the tournament,” Butler said. “If an opportunity presents itself, due to economic reasons that I can’t pass on, I’ll just have to take it.”
It is an upset that Butler is in this enviable situation. His mother, Mattie Paden, was a single parent and she was crushed when her son landed in prison. While locked up, Butler got a job working in the kitchen and, as a former high school hoops star, began playing ball for canteen money. The games were rough. The prize for winning? A few bucks. Cases of soda.
“It was a lot of pressure, because we were starving and you had to find some way to eat,” Butler recalled. “It was rough, lot of hacking, lot of tackling, somehow, some way I made it through it. You don’t see no one get fast-break layups or dunks in there.”
After completing his term, Butler found he was banned from returning to school. He took a job at Burger King, illegally enrolled at a technical college, picked up solid grades, appealed and finally made it back to high school. He later spent two years at Maine Central Institute, where he developed into the nation’s top prospect, a player who started the moment he got to UConn a year ago.
This week, he heads to Syracuse for what he hopes is the next step toward the Final Four in Atlanta.
“I remember when I was shipped from the detention center to the correctional facility my mother was in the parking lot and saw me get into the van and she trailed the van all the way there, just to see me,” Butler recalled. “I remember that to this day, looking out the back window and she’s following me. I’ll never put my family in a situation like that again.
