INDIANAPOLIS – The closed casket was at midcourt, with Butler’s No. 33 jersey draped on top. As guests filed into Hinkle Fieldhouse on Monday morning, the video screen above was showing a montage of pictures – smiling, playful images of Joel Cornette.
Then came the video, highlights of his playing career capped by one of the most memorable quotes of Butler’s rise from mid-major nobody to college basketball powerhouse:
"On paper, people tell us we're nothing," Joel Cornette was saying on March 23, 2001, after Butler had beaten Louisville to advance to the Sweet 16.