Butts forges special bond with ASU

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At 6-foot-10, 285-pounds, Isaac Butts, Appalachian State's first basketball signee for the class of 2007-08, is used to hovering over the tops of the people and things around him. However, despite the acceptance of his ability to see over obstacles that most would have to use a stepladder to see, heights aren't exactly his best friend.

Oddly enough, Butts has chosen to attend a school in the North Carolina Mountains that reaches 3,333 ft. in elevation. Even he admits that it makes little sense.

But, in reality his fear of heights may have been a huge deciding factor in his decision to sign with the ASU basketball team back in November. Yes, I said a huge deciding factor. In fact, when Butts made his official visit to App on the weekend of October 13, head coach Houston Fancher may not have realized that taking him to the top of Howard's Knob to see Boone from above may have sealed the deal.

"Coach knows I'm scared of heights and I'm thinking the whole time that this is crazy," Butts said, laughing. "Here I am afraid of heights and I'm in the mountains. While I was up there for my visit coach Fancher took me up this long road all the way to the top of the mountain and here I was looking over the whole city.

"I was walking up to the edge – slowly – and the whole time I was looking over Coach was messing with me, acting like I was getting ready to fall off or something. He was like, 'Look, look – there's the edge – watch out, watch out!' I didn't like being all up on the edge there. But he was just messing with me and was making me laugh."

Though these moments may not always stand out to a coach or a recruit, it was this moment that Fancher forged a connection with Butts that made App State stand above the rest.

"Out of all the schools recruiting me I just became so much closer to coach Fancher and (associate head) coach (Matt) McMahon," Butts explained. "I developed such a great relationship with them and all the other coaches and players, too. Just coach Fancher picking around like that showed me he really cares and shows me that he is easy to get along with and talk to.

"One thing that stuck out to me was when the players told me that they could go to coach Fancher, coach McMahon and any of the others and talk to them if they ever had a problem or needed somebody to talk to. They told me the coaches would listen to me and help me figure things out. You can't always find a relationship with coaches like that and that was a big reason I wanted to go to App State. That kind of relationship just makes me not want to let [Coach Fancher] down and makes me want to work hard for him."

While on his visit, Butts, who played his high school ball at Georgia Military College High School (Milledgeville, Ga.), was hosted by P.L. Henderson.

"P.L. was a great guy; he was pretty chill," he said. "I liked hanging out with him and all the players. Donte Minter showed me around some and just told me he would help me out once I get up to Boone.

"D.J. (Thompson) was really cool, too. He told me that when I got up there to come ready to work and if I did that good things would happen down the road."

For Butts, his final decision came down to App State and one other mid-major program – Winthrop.

"I had a couple letters sent to me and calls from Oregon and Middle Tennessee State, but App State and Winthrop were the two that offered me and it basically came down to them two," he said. "I just liked the coaches at App better and I liked the campus a whole lot more. Really, when I came up for my official visit everything felt right and I knew it was the right place for me.

"I think App is a better team, in a better conference, and has a lot more to offer than Winthrop. They have a good team, don't get me wrong, but I think App's is better. Last season I was watching ESPN and they thought App would get an at-large bid but since they lost to College of Charleston they didn't get it.

"Winthrop made it in, but I was watching them and I just kept thinking that App State could take them – App is a better team and in a better conference. They proved that by beating Vanderbilt and Virginia. That just makes me think we have a shot at building a winning tradition and have an opportunity to keep going farther."

Butts, who figures to be an important piece to the puzzle over the next four years, finished his high school career averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of 26 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks per game. After the season he competed in the Georgia Coaches Association All-Star game and the Middle Georgia All-Star Classic, in which he walked away with MVP honors. Butts will be on campus July 1, just in time to start taking classes in the second summer session.