On Thursday, Butler University officials announced that its basketball coach Brandon Miller has taken a medical leave of absence. No details related to Miller’s physical condition were reported.
"Brandon Miller has requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, which the University has granted," Butler athletic director Barry Collier said in a statement released early Thursday. "We are not in a position to further elaborate and we ask that everyone respect Brandon's privacy."
Chris Holtmann, an assistant with Butler, will fill in for the 35-year-old Miller on an interim basis. The Bulldogs will have their first official practice on October 4th, and no doubt putting strain on a program that fell on hard times last season, the first under Miller. Butler finished 14-17 after watching Brad Stevens leave campus in 2013 to coach the Boston Celtics.
Butler, which finished 4-14 in its first season in the Big East Conference, will get its best player, Roosevelt Jones, back from an injury that kept him out the entire 2013-14 campaign.
Time will tell if the absence of Miller will ultimately doom the Bulldogs, or if they will thrive under the coaching of Holtmann, who coached Gardner-Webb to a school-record 21 wins two seasons ago.
