List of Butler Bulldogs men's basketball head coaches

Last updated February 10, 2024

The following is a list of Butler Bulldogs men's basketball head coaches. There have been 24 head coaches of the Bulldogs in their 125-season history.^[1]

Butler's current head coach is Thad Matta, in his second stint as head coach. He was hired in April 2022^[2] to replace LaVall Jordan, who was fired after the 2021–22 season.^[3]

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
–	1896–1897	Unknown	1	1–0	1.000
1	1897–1899	James L. Zink	2	2–5	.286
2	1899–1903	Walter F. Kelly	4	6–8	.429
3	1903–1904	Ralph Jones	1	2–2	.500
4	1904–1906	Edgar Wingard	2	7–3	.700
5	1906–1907	Art Guedel	1	2–4	.333
6	1907–1909^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Jack McKay	2	9–6	.600
7	1908–1909^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Joe McCrea	1	5–2	.714
8	1909–1910	Walter Gipe	1	3–4	.429
9	1910–1912	Bill Diddle	2	10–12	.455
10	1912–1918^{[lower-alpha 2]}	G. Cullen Thomas	5	16–28	.364
11	1918–1919	Joe Mullane	1	1–9	.100
12	1919–1920	F. E. Ellis	1	2–4	.333
13	1920–1926	Harlan Page	6	103–30	.774
14	1926–1942 1945–1970	Tony Hinkle	41	560–392	.588
15	1942–1945^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Frank Hedden	2	18–15	.545
16	1970–1977	George Theofanis	7	79–105	.429
17	1977–1989	Joe Sexson	12	143–188	.432
18	1989–2000	Barry Collier	11	196–132	.598
19	2000–2001 2022–present	Thad Matta	2	38–26	.594
20	2001–2007	Todd Lickliter	6	131–61	.682
21	2007–2013	Brad Stevens	6	166–49	.772
22	2013–2014	Brandon Miller	1	14–17	.452
23	2014–2017	Chris Holtmann	3	70–31	.693
24	2017–2022	LaVall Jordan	5	83–74	.529
Totals		24 coaches	125 seasons	1,662–1,205	.580
Records updated through end of 2022–23 season Source^[1]

1 2 McKay and McCrea served as co-head coaches for the 1908–09 season. Their record of 5–2 is reflected in both coaches' records.
↑ Butler did not field a basketball team for the 1913–14 season.
↑ Butler did not field a basketball team for the 1943–44 season.

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The 2016–17 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Chris Holtmann, in his third year. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse and were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the regular season 25–9, 12–6 in Big East play to finish in second place. They lost to Xavier in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. The Bulldogs received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 4 seed in the South Region. They defeated Winthrop and Middle Tennessee to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to eventual National Champion North Carolina.

The 2016–17 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach is Thad Matta, in his 13th season with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes played their home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for 10th place. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Rutgers.

The 2016–17 Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by first-year head coach LaVall Jordan, played their home games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Klotsche Center as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 11–24, 4–14 in Horizon League play to finish in last place. They defeated Detroit, Valparaiso and UIC to advance to the championship game of the Horizon League tournament where they lost to Northern Kentucky.

The 2017–18 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by LaVall Jordan, in his first year as head coach of his alma mater. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–14, 9–9 in Big East play to finish a tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament, they defeated Seton Hall before losing to Villanova in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated Arkansas in the first round before losing to Purdue in the second round.

The 2017–18 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Chris Holtmann, in his first season with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes played their home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 15–3 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to Penn State in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the West region. They defeated South Dakota State in the First Round before losing to Gonzaga in the Second Round.

The 2021–22 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by first-year head coach, and former Indiana standout, Mike Woodson. The team played its home games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The season officially kicked off with the annual event, Hoosier Hysteria, on October 2, 2021.

The 2021–22 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by LaVall Jordan, in his fifth year as head coach of his alma mater. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 14–19, 6–14 in Big East play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Xavier in the first round of the Big East tournament before losing to Providence in the quarterfinals.

The 2000–01 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Thad Matta, serving in his 1st season as head coach at the school. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse as members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Butler finished first in the MCC season standings and won the MCC tournament to receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the school’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. As No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, the Bulldogs took down No. 7 seed Wake Forest, 79–63, in the opening round, before falling to No. 2 seed Arizona in the second round. For the second straight season, Butler lost to the eventual National runner-up. Butler finished the season with a record of 24–8.

The 2022–23 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by Thad Matta, in the first year of his second stint as head coach of his alma mater. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 6–14 in Big East play to finish in ninth place. They were defeated by St. John's in the first round of the Big East tournament.

References

1 2 "Butler Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Butler Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
↑ "Butler basketball brings Thad Matta back as head coach" . The Indianapolis Star . April 3, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
↑ Borzello, Jeff (April 1, 2022). "Butler fires men's basketball coach LaVall Jordan after five seasons". ESPN.com . Retrieved February 25, 2023.

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[McKayMcCrea-4] 1 2 McKay and McCrea served as co-head coaches for the 1908–09 season. Their record of 5–2 is reflected in both coaches' records.

[NoTeam1914-5] Butler did not field a basketball team for the 1913–14 season.

[NoTeam1944-6] Butler did not field a basketball team for the 1943–44 season.

[RecordBook-1] 1 2 "Butler Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Butler Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

[2] "Butler basketball brings Thad Matta back as head coach" . The Indianapolis Star . April 3, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

[3] Borzello, Jeff (April 1, 2022). "Butler fires men's basketball coach LaVall Jordan after five seasons". ESPN.com . Retrieved February 25, 2023.

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NCAA Final Four appearances in italics