Its tough not to root for Da'Sean Butler

In the week leading up to the Final Four, Da'Sean Butler made headlines as he surprised a 74 year old West Virginia fan/heart attack victim with a visit in the hospital. Heartwarming, right?

Well, Butler's back at it again:

There was Butler last weekend, hobbling around on a set of crutches and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for a youth baseball league in Bridgeport. It wasn't just any group of kids, though, but rather the participants in the Challenger League for kids with handicaps.

"Yeah, me just hobbling out there was pretty funny," Butler said. "But I'm just a guy who has to use crutches for a while. That's nothing compared to doing what some of those kids do their whole lives."

Bob Huggins consoling Da'Sean Butler was one of the lasting images of the NCAA Tournament.
(photo credit: NY Post)

That's a pretty good attitude to have, considering Butler is just a month removed from a devastating knee injury, as he tore his acl and sprained his mcl at the end of West Virginia's Final Four loss to Duke.

That knee injury did a lot more than just cost Butler the last eight minutes of his college career.

It may have cost him a spot in the NBA Draft. No one ever said that Butler was a lock for the first round, but after the performances he had down the stretch of the season, it is safe to say that Butler was rising on NBA Draft boards. A couple impressive workouts and a quality performance at the NBA pre-draft camp could have pushed Butler from the second round into a guaranteed contract.

Now, instead of working out for NBA teams, Butler will be rehabbing his shredded knee, hoping to strengthen it enough that he can get a shot to prove himself in the D-League or overseas.

That's a pretty drastic change in mentality, but it doesn't seem to bother Butler all that much.

"There's always maybe one or two days every two weeks where rehab gets so bad that I'll just sit down and think, 'Man, I hate this,'" Butler told the West Virginia Gazette. "But you have to keep your faith and understand that everything happens for a reason. It's going to be painful, but you have to go with it and just roll with the punches.

"I have my days when I think, 'OK, I don't want to play basketball anymore. It's time to start thinking about coaching so I can get this ice off my knee.' But if I stick it out it's going to make me a tougher person and a player. But I'll look back on it one day and know that if I can take it, I mean anybody can take it.

"You can't help but look at the reality of the situation, which in my case was that I had worked myself into something and then I lost it. But I always look at the positives of everything. No, I'm not going to get guaranteed money right off the bat, but even if I just go and get a one-year contract and work hard and they keep me, then I get guaranteed money the next year. It's all up to me."

Injury or not, with that kind of attitude, mindset, and work ethic, its tough to bet against Da'Sean Butler one day cashing an NBA paycheck.