Former Butler Bulldogs coach Brad Stevens is the new leader of the Boston Celtics. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Boston Celtics dropped an atom bomb on the news wire Wednesday when the 17-time NBA champions hired Butler University coach Brad Stevens to succeed Doc Rivers as head coach.

Apparently the Celtics didn’t learn their lesson. They did the exact same thing 16 years ago when they lured Rick Pitino out of Kentucky.

How did that work out?

About the only thing that Stevens has over Pitino is age. Stevens is only 36, easily the youngest coach in pro basketball. He compiled an impressive 166-49 record in six seasons at Butler. But unlike Pitino, Stevens only got as far as the national championship game, losing to Duke in 2010 and Connecticut in 2011. When Pitino was hired as Celtics coach he was coming off a national championship.

Hiring a guy straight out of college without any NBA experience is a huge gamble for team president Danny Ainge, given the simple fact that successful college coaches don’t succeed in the NBA. Just ask Pitino, John Calipari, Jerry Tarkanian, and P.J. Carlesimo.

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale thinks Stevens is a bright guy with a high basketball IQ. He thought Stevens was a “college lifer” who would be a fixture in the NCAA for a long time. So when news hit that Stevens was leaving Butler for the NBA, Vitale was floored.

“I am shocked, surprised, and befuddled by the whole thing,” Vitale said.

Vitale doesn’t blame Stevens for making the jump. In fact, he has 22 million reasons why he would ditch Butler for Boston. But Vitale, a former NBA coach with the Detroit Pistons, is well aware of the challenges ahead. If he has any advice for him it would be patience and practice. Vitale says Stevens will have to deal with losing and practicing less.

“If he can be patient because he may lose more games this year than he’s lost in the last six years coaching at Butler,” Vitale said. “The NBA is all about talent. I don’t care how much you coach it comes down to the last four minutes of a game. The LeBrons, the Durants, the Chris Pauls they take over.

“Handling [losing] is a big adjustment that he’s gonna have to go through.”

The Celtics are in complete rebuilding mode, trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brookly and losing Rivers to the L.A. Clippers. The only star left in Boston is Rajon Rondo, but he too could be shipped to another team.

“People are very impatient in the NBA. It’s all about today. They can say rebuilding all they want but you as a coach standing on that sideline getting pounded day after day it becomes unbelievably frustrating,” Vitale said. “Looking at their personnel, if they were to be lucky, they win 40 games in an 82-game schedule. And I’m being kind.”

Vitale continued: “Bottom line is, how do you handle that? I did not handle that very well. When you look at the track record of college guys they had a difficult time.”

Aside from bracing himself from the misery of losing, Stevens also has to deal with less practice time. NBA players are grown men who make millions, so unless you are Pat Riley or Phil Jackson the threat of a two-hour, high-intensity practice most likely won’t fly.

“I was going two, two and half hours,” Vitale said, “and I remember vividly Hall of Famer Bob Lanier coming in my office and saying, ‘Coach, we cannot handle that intensity and that kind of practice.’ ”

Here’s what Stevens needs to do in his first Celtics practice: be confident, be honest, and be trustworthy. And most importantly be patient.

Unfortunately, real life did not imitate art.

Butler had a chance to bring to life the unforgettable scene from the movie “Hoosiers” in which Jimmy Chitwood swishes a shot at the buzzer to give Hickory the Indiana high school state title.

Butler’s sophomore forward Gordon Hayward played the role of Jimmy Chitwood and he had two takes to complete the greatest upset in college basketball tournament history.

The first shot came with 13 seconds when Hayward drove the lane and shot a fadeaway near the baseline over Duke’s 7-foot center Brian Zoubek. The shot banged off the rim into Zoubek’s arms.

The second shot came with 3 seconds left after Zoubek intentionally missed his second free throw. Down 61-59, Hayward grabbed the missed free throw, dribbled to midcourt and launched a desperation shot that would have won the game. The shot banged off the backboard and bounced off the front of the rim.

Duke players and coaches began to celebrate the school’s fourth national championship while the Butler players realized that their title hopes were dashed and Hayward was left reliving his two missed opportunities.

It could have been a storybook ending to a storybook tournament for the Bulldogs, a mid-major school from Indiana located six miles from the site of the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis. Butler winning the national championship would have been a bigger upset than N.C. State defeating Houston in 1983 or Villanova slaying Georgetown in 1985.

However, it wasn’t meant to be.

“We were one shot away from winning the national championship,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens, whose team had won 25 games in row prior to Monday’s title game.

“We caught lightning in a bottle and rode it as far as we could,” Stevens added. “I’m proud of our guys. We just came one possession short.”

The game was well played and it was very physical. Duke benefited from some favorable calls by the refs in the first half, but the officials made up for it with some favorable calls for Butler in the second half.

In the end, the bigger and stronger Blue Devils wore down the underdog Bulldogs. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, made enough big shots to carry the Blue Devils on offense. On the other hand, Butler’s two best scorers, Shelvin Mack and Hayward, struggled offensively and the Bulldogs’ defense was just not enough to overcome Duke’s talent and depth.

It was fitting that the huge sign above the court at Lucas Oil Stadium read: “The Road Ends Here.” For Butler, the ending wasn’t what they hoped for.

Behind a rock-solid defense, the No. 5-seeded team from Indiana reached the championship game after overcoming Michigan State, 52-50, in one of the national semifinal games at Lucas Oil Stadium in – where else – Indianapolis.

Next up for underdog Butler is mighty Duke University – the last remaining No. 1-seeded team in the tournament.

The people who were responsible for bringing the movie “Hoosiers” to the big screen couldn’t have scripted this any better. Heck, the NCAA Tournament Committee couldn’t have scripted this any better.

Does Butler feel lucky to be in Final Four? Not at all. This is a squad that has won 25 in a row and was a preseason top-25 team.

“It doesn’t really matter. All that stuff is for debate,” said Butler’s thirtysomething head coach Brad Stevens, who will go up against the great Mike Krzyzewski in the final game. “It’s special to share this with the community and it’s special to share this with the city.”

“This team and this program has been built on guys ready to come in and contribute for the good of the team. It makes me proud to be their coach,” Stevens said after the win over Michigan State.

Duke against Butler is a matchup straight from the pages of Hollywood. The gap between the two schools when it comes to notoriety and accomplishments are about as long as a film strip.

However, the daunting task placed in front of them is met with quiet confidence. “I think our biggest strength is that we don’t know any better,” said Bulldogs guard Ronald Nored.

Duke has won three national championship banners since 1990 while Butler has none.

Duke has a roster filled with McDonald’s High School All-Americans while Butler’s players frequents McDonald’s during the season.

Duke’s campus is known for its Cameron Crazies while Butler is known for being the location of the movie “Hoosiers.”

It’s David vs. Goliath . It’s Georgetown vs. Villanova. It’s Milan vs. Muncie Central.

Jimmy, Buddy and Ollie…they’ve been replaced with Gordon, Shelvin and Ronald.

Can’t wait see how this story ends.