2023 recruit Finley Bizjack missed dunk on Greg Oden, but Butler wants him for his shooting

INDIANAPOLIS – Butler coaches knew Finley Bizjack could shoot. The Texas teen wanted to show he could dunk.

On a recent official visit, Greg Oden was rebounding for Bizjack, who asked Oden if he could stand and touch the rim. The 7-foot Oden is the Bulldogs’ director of basketball operations.

“I tried to dunk on him, but I missed it,” Bizjack said in an interview on The Scene Podcast. “I almost dunked on a No. 1 draft pick.”

Bizjack is not necessarily a No. 1 recruiting target, but he does have a scholarship offer from Butler and has a skill the program has long prioritized: shooting.

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Bizjack, 6-3 and 170 pounds, is a 2023 prospect from Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, Texas. His AAU team is Southern Assault. He is ranked as a four-star and 114th by Rivals, a three-star and 152nd by 247Sports.

The Bulldogs became interested because of new assistant coach Maurice Joseph, who was recruiting him for Richmond. Bizjack said he has been hearing the most from Butler, SMU, Richmond, Utah and Saint Louis.

“Butler was awesome,” he said. “On every visit I go to, I only ask for one thing, and that’s to get on their own court and get some shots up.”

Bizjack is coming off the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Showcase at Duncanville. He scored 37, 33 and 35 points for a three-game total of 105 and led Byron Nelson to a 3-0 record.

(Coincidentally, Duncanville is where Indiana Fever hall-of-famer Tamika Catchings played high school basketball.)

During the high school season, Bizjack averaged 25.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game for a 24-10 team. He made 77-of-255 3-pointers (30%).  He had a high of 40 points and scored 30 or more in five other games.

In selecting a college, Bizjack said, he would figure out the best fit, “whether that’s 1,000 miles away” or a school like SMU that is close to home. He is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Butler also has an offer out to 6-4 DeShawn Harris-Smith of Fairfax, Va., a four-star prospect ranked 122nd by 247Sports. He is from Paul VI, the same high school as all-time Butler assists leader Aaron Thompson.

Butler is pursuing another Washington, D.C., area prospect in 6-8 Amani Hansberry, ranked 131st.

The only Butler player whose eligibility expires after 2022-23 is Purdue transfer Eric Hunter Jr. If no player transfers or leaves college early, the Bulldogs would have one available scholarship.

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Bulldogs prepare for summer tour

The Bulldogs, allowed 10 full practices ahead of an August trip to Italy and Greece, will begin those July 11. Otherwise, teams are limited to four hours a week on the court spread over eight weeks.

Exhibition games are set for Aug. 4, 5, 9 and 10 against opponents to be determined.

All 13 scholarship players are on campus and worked at camps over the past three weeks, coach Thad Matta said. He said early practices have focused on “just trying to get a feel for what guys can do.”

Manny Bates, a 6-11 transfer from North Carolina State, is coming off shoulder surgery that sidelined him last season and has not been cleared for 5-on-5 workouts.

“We’re going to bring him along slow,” Matta said.

Butler to visit Penn State

Bulldog bits:

>> Butler will play at Penn State in the Gavitt Games on Nov. 14.  Penn State is coached by Micah Shrewsberry, a former Butler assistant. The Bulldogs will host Kansas State on Nov. 30 and play in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas during Thanksgiving week.

>> Former Butler star Kamar Baldwin, rehabbing from an abdominal injury, will not play in an NBA summer league. He was a first-team all-league selection in Germany.

>> Bo Hodges, who played parts of two seasons for Butler after transferring from East Tennessee State, will start his pro career in Finland. He has signed with Salon Vilpas, based in Salo.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler basketball recruiting: 2023 shooter Finley Bizjack on radar