Jack McHugh has worked in athletics at four schools in his career. Photo by Jada Gangazha.

SAWYER GOLDWEIN | MANAGING EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu 

Jack McHugh lives and breathes basketball, spending hours on end watching film, grabbing rebounds and spending time with the team.

McHugh is far from a Division I basketball player, but excels in his role as the video coordinator for the men’s basketball team.

“Oh my gosh, [he’s a] terrible player,” assistant coach Jon Diebler said. “Terrible player. He claims he’s a really good free-throw shooter. He can make free throws [but he’s] not a good three-point shooter.”

Despite a complete lack of organized basketball experience, McHugh’s love for the game has been at his core for as long as he can remember.

“My whole life, I knew I wanted to work in basketball,” McHugh said. “Then college basketball kind of became my whole life when I went to the Big East tournament when I was like 10 years old.”

The New Jersey native’s career began as a high schooler when he interned with the Monmouth athletic department. After getting his foot in the door there, McHugh made stops as an intern with Cal Berkeley, then with Princeton during the fall semester of his first year of college, made virtual due to COVID. 

Finally, upon arriving at Butler, he became a men’s basketball manager, fulfilling his hope to become more integrated with the team than he was as an intern. McHugh, like all managers, worked tirelessly to keep everything running smoothly for the team.

The assistant coaches have an immense appreciation for their role within the team.

“Our managers do an awesome job, and they’re incredibly important to our program,” Diebler said. “Those guys are key to our success, coming back at night, rebounding, helping out with the daily duties of practice, travel, all the stuff that kind of goes unnoticed behind the scenes. This program wouldn’t be anywhere without its managers.”

Of course, the managers get to let loose just like anyone else, often in the form of the “Manager Games”, an underground basketball league that pits managers from each school against each other, with games typically played the night before the actual game.

McHugh coached Butler’s team for a couple of years, but got to play as well. 

“One game I had 11 points in the first four minutes of the game, and then they started guarding me like I was Steph Curry and I couldn’t get a shot off,” McHugh said.

Off the court, McHugh stood out amongst his peers, quickly becoming recognized for his hard work, constant availability and positive attitude. His efforts eventually landed him an offer to return to Butler after his 2024 graduation, this time as video coordinator.

Known around the program as McGoo, Goozy and Goo, McHugh credits his relationship with the staff with his decision to remain a Bulldog.

“I’d say the main reason that I stayed at Butler was because of [head coach Thad Matta] and Jon,” McHugh said. “I’m just glad that I’ve continued to build that relationship, because if it wasn’t for Coach Matta telling me that he wanted me to stay, and for Jon telling Coach Matta that I should stay, I don’t think I’d still be here.”

They may be close now, but Goozy felt differently when he first met Diebler.

“He said, ‘Man, I remember when I first met you, I thought you were a loser,’” Diebler said. “He said he thought I was a weirdo.”

Weirdo or not, Diebler’s bond with McHugh has continued to grow with each passing season, and so has the latter’s role.

McHugh now has significant scouting responsibilities each time the Dawgs prepare for their next opponent.

“Last year, I didn’t really do much scouting, but this year I think I’ve taken a bigger step in that,” McHugh said. “I’ve done a lot of the personnel for every game, [making] sure that we know what each player does and their tendencies. So from year one to year two, there’s been more scouting.”

A college basketball fan at heart, McHugh watches mountains of film — including some less than exciting matchups — in the process of preparing for each game.

“You’re not gonna know exactly what a player does based off like, 40 or 50 clips,” McHugh said. “Like, for Southern Indiana, they had 13 new players and they were all from different schools, so I’d have to go watch games from their old schools. They’re JUCO games and stuff like that, where you don’t really know how good the competition is.”

A true college basketball sicko, McHugh is always on the lookout for talented players that Butler could scoop up in the future.

“My junior year as manager, I was a massive Omari Moore fan,” McHugh said. “I was like, ‘We’ve got to get this guy if he enters the portal.’ I stayed up and watched San Jose State play until like, 2 a.m., almost every time they played.”

Moore defected to the NBA Draft, but McHugh’s scouting did pay off when he pushed Butler’s coaching staff to check out an undersized guard from UC Irvine, DJ Davis. The shooting specialist eventually committed to the Bulldogs and was the team’s third-leading scorer while also leading the entire country with a 95% clip from the free-throw line.

Not only has McHugh taken on increased responsibility in player evaluation, but he also stays true to his roots as a manager, doing the little things whenever possible and continuing to be readily available to help as needed.

“He’s here when he doesn’t have to be here,” redshirt sophomore forward Jamie Kaiser Jr. said. “He works all day and night. He’s always in here. Like, I’ll call him at 6 p.m., wanting to get a workout in after practice, and he’ll still be here.”

The grind is worth it to McHugh, who has big dreams for the future of his career. Some of those dreams even include his favorite weirdo and fellow future head coach, Diebler.

“We’ve talked in the past about working together for our whole lives,” McHugh said. “I was like, ‘Well, when I become a head coach, you’re gonna have to become my assistant.’ He’s always like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that once I’m done being a head coach.’”

McHugh looks forward to taking the reins of his own team one day, ideally at one of two schools: his childhood favorite or his alma mater. 

“If I were to become a head coach at Pitt or Butler, I think I would stay there for essentially as long as I could, unless I get fired,” McHugh said. “But Butler would be number one. I don’t think I’d leave Butler for anywhere.”