Doyel: Alex Barlow was born to coach, maybe at Butler

When he was finished talking Tuesday night, people all over Hinkle Fieldhouse were crying. His mom. Dad. His coach. Fans. Cheerleaders. But Butler senior Alex Barlow wasn't saying goodbye on senior night. He was saying thank you.

He thanked teammates, coaches, administration, fans. He thanked his parents for their …

Sorry. Barlow started crying there.

He just wanted to thank them because …

Sorry. More tears from Barlow.

Barlow composed himself and had the crowd, at the end of an emotionally draining night – Butler had just lost 60-54 to Georgetown – roaring.

"We've got a long season ahead of us," he said, and Hinkle erupted for the final time this season.

They'll see him again. They'll see Alex Barlow, one of the most remarkable players in Butler history – the walk-on who won a game at the buzzer against No. 1 Indiana, and a scholarship, and the point guard job.

Folk heroes don't get much bigger around here, and Alex Barlow is a folk hero. A sellout crowd of 9,100 came Tuesday to see him off.

But this wasn't goodbye. Alex Barlow wants to be a college coach, see, and he gets what he wants. He'll start where he always has, at the end of someone's bench, but he's never stayed there long. Not at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, not at Butler. Wherever he ends up next, he'll start sliding his way toward the lead chair somewhere.

Mark these words: Someday he'll be back at Hinkle Fieldhouse, running his own team. And don't be surprised if that team is Butler, where as a player he won 83 (and counting) games, beat Indiana at the buzzer as a sophomore, was Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a junior, is among Big East leaders in steals and 3-pointers and an academic All-American as a senior, and befriended young Butler fans along the way. A ball girl named Ayri Davis. A boy fighting cancer named Parker Adams. More. So many more.

Folk heroes. They don't come much better than Alex Barlow. He's an extraordinary guy, so let's honor Barlow in an unusual way. Let's go with an oral history of a player who wasn't born to play for Butler – he was born to coach Butler.

The father

"As early as I can remember," says Tom Barlow, "Alex was drawing up plays. Most kids are ooh-ing and aah-ing at slam dunks on TV. Alex was more into what offense they're running. He thought the game at an advanced level, even then."

Give me an example.

"One of the first games he ever played, he caught the inbounds ball late, starts going up the court, and he's looking up at the clock to see how much time he had to shoot. Everybody could tell what he was doing. And he's 8 years old."

Something more recent?

"The (Providence) game. He knew they were going to foul him because they had a foul to give."

(On Jan. 6, Butler led 33-28 with 8 seconds left in the first half. Three fouls short of hitting the bonus, Providence grabbed Barlow twice in a row. The second time he was ready, chucking a 3-pointer from halfcourt to earn the free throws. He made all three.)

"The (Providence) coach was highly upset because he got outcoached by a kid on the court. I'm sure he was blaming the official for giving Alex the call, but Alex timed it perfect. He kind of outsmarted the coach."

He's gonna be a special coach, isn't he?

"I wouldn't bet against him," Tom Barlow says. "He's a kid a lot of people told no. And he didn't take no for an answer."

The high school coach

"I underestimated him myself," says Moeller's Carl Kremer. "His sophomore season, he wasn't going to play varsity – but that fall in open gym, every team he was on, they won. Didn't matter who played with him, they won. This kid is a 5-10 three-man, but we had to move him up to varsity. He led us that season in rebounds, assists and steals."

You said rebounds.

"He led us in rebounds three years in a row! He just knows how to play."

How will he be as a coach?

"He was born to be a great coach. He's taught me so much on the white board. I'm going to retire down the road and watch Alex coach college basketball."

He taught you on the white board?

"Every offseason we call him. We bring him to Moeller, put him on a white board in the middle of the room, and all the coaches sit around a U-shaped table taking notes. He's comfortable doing that – and three years ago he was playing for us."

The college coach

"I knew exactly what he was doing," Butler coach Chris Holtmann says after I tell him Tom Barlow's Providence story. "But no, I did not tell him to shoot that ball. That was all him."

That's an example of him thinking like a coach, right?

"I have a better one: Creighton late, maybe 10 seconds left, we had the ball at the end line, up one. They had to foul. We normally say, 'We have the tie up' if it's a jump ball, but we didn't tell them that. What Alex did was, he got open, he saw the trap coming and he just grabbed the ball and held onto it. They weren't fouling. They wanted to get a tie up – it's instinctive for defensive players. So when they called jump ball, Alex doesn't even look at the arrow. Some players look. He just takes the ball and gives it right back to the official, like: 'I just burned 5 seconds there.'"

He'll be a great coach, won't he?

"Yeah. This past (offseason) we had a coaching roundtable for coaches around the Midwest. It was all coaches – and Alex. He was all over it, taking notes. Didn't say a word. Nor did we expect him to. It started at 8:30 in the morning, and he drove over from Cincinnati, spent the whole day. By far he's the youngest guy there."

Coaches only – except for Barlow. Why did you invite him?

"Because he's going to be a great coach someday."

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel