Butler will take on the court for an exhibition game against Illinois Wesleyan on Oct. 30. Photo by Ben Holmes. 

SARAH HOHMAN | MANAGING EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu

CALEB DENORME | SPORTS EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu

Entering the third year of head coach Thad Matta’s second stint with Butler, the Bulldogs are looking to take yet another step forward. Even in an offseason that featured a couple of departures from the Dawgs, Matta reloaded while retaining the team’s core from last season.

Last season, Butler finished with a record of 18-15, going 9-11 in the Big East before being bounced in the first round of the conference tournament by Xavier. Despite exiting early and falling short of the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs managed to grab a postseason NIT bid. The postseason did not last long for them though, as they lost against Minnesota at home in the first round. In the end, Butler would finish eighth in the Big East, only one spot above where they ended a year prior.

Forward Pierre Brooks returns for his second season with the Dawgs. He looks to take a leadership role and lead this team to a more successful year as a senior.

“Having that experience last year in the Big East [puts me in a leadership position],” Brooks said. “As a senior, just knowing that we need to get [the job] done because we could have had a better year last year, and [we are] kind of disappointed that we didn’t have a better year. [We know] that we could have [done better] and are trying to implement those things to be better last year into this year.”

Although the season ended in disappointment, there were still areas of improvement for the Bulldogs in Matta’s second year. The Dawgs were able to get wins at Creighton and Marquette, along with beating a strong Texas Tech team in an early-season thriller to build their resume. Heading into the spring, Butler was projected to be in the NCAA tournament field, but a five-game losing streak ended their tournament hopes.

While there was a stark improvement from Matta’s first season back in charge, there were also areas where the Bulldogs made head-scratching errors. An early-season loss to Providence hit hard when Butler was up three points with nine seconds left and did not foul. This allowed the Friars to hit a triple to force overtime; instead the Dawgs ended up losing by 10.

Another crunch time mistake cost Butler their season after a late turnover gave Minnesota a chance at the line to win in the first round of the NIT. The Golden Gophers converted both shots, sending the Bulldogs home with a stinging loss to end their year. 

As a seasoned coach, Matta is familiar with the challenges the Big East brings and knows the level his team needs to be at.

“I want us to be a very smart team, [with] very high execution, defensively and even offensively,” Matta said. “We’ve got to be very, very fundamentally sound. In the Big East, you can’t beat yourself. So I think those are the things that we’re trying to get guys to understand.”

Butler will have a new starting backcourt with offseason changes shaking up the lineup. Last year’s duo of guards Posh Alexander and DJ Davis transferred to Dayton and Washington, respectively. The Dawgs also lost forward Connor Turnbull and guard Artemios Gavalas to the transfer portal while centers Jalen Thomas and John Michael-Mulloy graduated. 

Despite the departures, Butler also strengthened their roster. The Dawgs gained transfers in guard Jamie Kaiser Jr., forward Patrick McCaffery and guard Kolby King.

Matta believes that the additions have brought improvements to the squad.

“You always want shooting [and] you always want your defense to get better,” Matta said. “Just going out and adding some size and different positions that have helped our defense. Now, we just have to continue to drill down the position that we want to be in. We’ve got to continue to work [on] our transition defense, not giving easy baskets [and] converting when we have numbers on offense.

On the coaching front, the Dawgs’ former director of basketball operations Greg Oden stepped down in September. On Sept. 16, former Indiana Pacers assistant coach Connor McCaffery was hired to Matta’s coaching staff — teaming up with his brother Patrick McCaffery.

The first step for the Dawgs this season is to get healthy. On Big East media day, Matta announced that Kaiser is out indefinitely to start the season. Kaiser sat out during the open practice on Sept. 28 along with guard Landon Moore, center Andre Screen and center Boden Kapke.

Fans have an exciting schedule to look forward to, with early non-conference games at Houston on Dec. 7 and against Wisconsin at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 14.

Butler will play their first exhibition game against Illinois Wesleyan on Oct. 30. Until then, King has a message for Bulldog fans.

“Just get ready to cheer us on,” King said. “[There’s] going to be a lot of fun games to watch.”