Matt Howard Named Sutton Award Winner

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler forward Matt Howard, who helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back Final Four appearances, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Eddie Sutton Tustenugee Award.  The new college basketball award was announced at the Tulsa Sports Charities Legends in Sports Dinner in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday (May 1).  

The Eddie Sutton Tustenugee Award, sponsored by the John and Judy Marshall Foundation, is awarded to a college basketball player who best exhibits the traits of tenacity and unselfishness that Sutton advocated during a hall of fame career as basketball coach at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and San Francisco.  The “tustenugee” word in the award’s title comes from the language of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and translates to “warrior.”  The award was chosen by a national media panel.

“With this award, we are honoring a great player, a warrior, Matt Howard, who places team above self, while also paying homage to a coach, Eddie Sutton, who legacy is steeped in discipline and dedication,” said director of Tulsa Sports Charities Tommy Thompson in a press release.

Howard was the leading scorer (16.4) and rebounder (7.7) for the 28-10 Bulldogs, who finished as the national runner-up for a second consecutive year.  He finished his four-year career with Butler records for games played (141) and games started (133).  The 6-8 forward finished in third place on Butler’s all-time scoring list with 1,939 career points and in third place on the school’s all-time rebounding list with 884 career rebounds.  He’s Butler’s all-time leader in free throws made (669).

A four-time All-Horizon League performer, Howard was named the 2011 Lou Henson Player of the Year.  He was chosen the Most Valuable Player at the Diamond Head Classic, earned a second consecutive MVP Award at the 2011 Horizon League Championship, and became the first player in league history to be named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team for four consecutive years.  He further earned All-Tournament honors at the 2011 Southeast Regional and at the 2011 Final Four.

Howard, Butler’s first three-time Academic All-American, was named the 2011 Academic All-American of the Year, and he received the NCAA’s Elite 88 Award at the Final Four for the second consecutive year.