Lee likes current convocation of Eagles
Butch Lee is a Marquette basketball legend.
The 6-foot guard helped lead MU to the 1977 NCAA championship and was named most outstanding player at that Final Four. He was a consensus AllAmerican and picked up several national player of the year awards as a senior in the 1977-78 season. His 1,735 points rank sixth in program history.
Lee’s No. 15 hangs in the rafters of Fiserv Forum. The 65-year-old, who lives in Puerto Rico, attended the Golden Eagles’ 64-56 victory over Butler on Saturday and answered a few questions at halftime.
This is your first time at Fiserv Forum. What has your experience been like?
I’m loving it. It’s a great place. The stadium is incredible. And then to be at a Marquette game, with a sold-out crowd, National Marquette Day, it’s a nice time to be here.
You went to a practice with MU coach Shaka Smart. What was that like?
That was good. I had met Coach Smart a few years ago in Puerto Rico when they were having a ESPN tournament over there. So I kind of knew him a little bit, talking to him. But this year, when I saw the team playing, I started texting him and I saw he had texted me a little earlier. I think they have a great team here at Marquette. I like the way he talked to the guys. They have a lot of good, young players. I tell you Marquette right now, this probably the best group of guys I’ve seen since the ’70s.
What are some similarities and differences between now and when Al McGuire was coaching?
The main thing is the quantity of players. We had a lot of players, anybody could go in and get the job done. You know, six, seven, eight, nine players. And that looks like what they have right now. They have a lot of good players that are almost interchangeable. So I am expecting big things from these guys.
In 1977, you guys lost your last three home games. Can you bring us back to that?
That was a tough period. Basically those games were because Al McGuire had announced his retirement (in December), so we were kind of taken aback with not knowing exactly what our future was going to be at Marquette. How we were going to do. But after that, I think we got it together. Because preseason, we were the No. 1 team in the country and we kind of worked our way back into that shape. We got back on the road (for the last five games) and played some pretty good basketball. I remember we were beating Michigan, which was one of the top teams in the country at that time. We were beating them at halftime (in the regular-season finale in which the Wolverines eventually prevailed, 69-68) when we got the news that we had made the NCAA Tournament. And like Al would say, that was all she wrote.
Would you have liked to play in a big NBA arena like this one?
What we had at that time was pretty tops also. I know Marquette has always been one of the top draws as far as college basketball. It all started back then, with us playing in the big Arena. The same arena that the Milwaukee Bucks played in.
The last time we talked was after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017. What has the rebuilding process been like?
It’s been tough. When you have a small island, just getting the help and the transportation. The logistics of everything was a little difficult. Right now I live in a metropolitan area (San Juan) so you see a lot of things are almost back to normal. But still you have areas on the south side of the island, the middle of the island, that still have their problems. But a lot of smaller islands are similar.
Current MU students weren’t born when you played here. How did it feel to get the huge ovation?
It’s incredible. I love Marquette. I love Milwaukee. We had such a great time here. Now, it’s a little difficult because you have the one-and-dones (of players entering the NBA draft after one season) as far as college basketball. So you don’t have the chance to build that basketball relationship with your teammates. For me to be here four years and pass with Lloyd Walton and Ulice Payne and Bo Ellis, we formed a great friendship and it gives you time. Whatever you don’t fix in one year, you can fix in the next two.
How do you look back on your playing days?
My basketball career has been like a dream come true. It’s just one thing after another. From high school, winning the high school championship (in New York) and then to win the championship at Marquette. Go on to the (Los Angeles) Lakers and win another championship (in 1980). It’s not that many people that have that in their background. So I feel pretty good about what happened with me and basketball and also for the fans that supported me along the way.