Ronald Nored Headed To New Orleans

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler senior Ronald Nored is headed to New Orleans, along with nine other top NCAA Division I men’s basketball players, for a weekend of activities at the Final Four.  The ten, all finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, will be participating in several community events surrounding the men’s national championship.

Joining Nored in New Orleans will be Robbie Hummel of Purdue, Draymond Green of Michigan State, Tyler Zeller of North Carolina, Ashton Gibbs of Pittsburgh, Zach Rosen of Penn, William Buford of Ohio State, Mick Hedgepeth of Belmont and Quinn McDowell of William & Mary.

On Friday, the finalists will be on site at a community service project at the St. Bernard Recreation Center (1500 Lafreniere St.) at 11 a.m. (CT).  A crew of local Lowe’s employees will be working to renovate the facility, which provides safe, wholesome, educational, recreational and culturally engaging opportunities to the citizens of New Orleans.

The finalists also will participate Friday in an on-court presentation at approximately 3:15 p.m. during the Final Four Friday open practices at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.  During the presentation, the winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award will be announced.

The players will appear Sunday at the NCAA Dribble at Champions Square at noon to sign autographs and kick off the dribble for more than 3,000 kids registered for the event.

The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I head coaches, national media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.  To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.  An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior Class Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Nored finished his collegiate career as Butler’s all-time leader in games played (143).  He tied the school’s all-time record for steals (207), and he wound up second on Butler’s all-time list for assists (497).  He was one of just two players in Butler men’s basketball history to record 400 career points, 400 career rebounds and 400 career assists.  During his four seasons at Butler, the Bulldogs won 109 games, captured three Horizon League regular season championships, claimed two league tournament titles and made four consecutive trips to postseason tournament play, including back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship national title game in 2010 and 2011.

The Butler team co-captain has been active in several community service projects as a member of the Bulldogs’ basketball team, including serving at a local soup kitchen over the holidays.  He’s been a featured speaker as several schools and churches in the Indianapolis area, and he’s completing his degree in early/middle childhood education.  He will graduate in May and begin a position as boys varsity basketball coach at Brownsburg High School in Brownburg, Ind.