Thad Matta’s ability to coach has been up for debate all season. Photo by Jada Gangazha.
ELLIOT Z. MUEHLHAUSEN | STAFF REPORTER | emuehlhausen@butler.edu
Men’s basketball head coach Thad Matta has been on the hot seat since a six-game losing streak ensued from late January to mid-February. Butler broke the losing streak with a win against Georgetown, giving Matta his 500th career win.
Matta joined the Butler coaching staff in 2022, having last coached in 2017 with Ohio State. Matta got his head coaching start with Butler in 2000, parting for Xavier a season later. After three years with the Musketeers, Matta left for Ohio State, where he spent 13 seasons and became the winningest coach in Buckeye history.
Upon his return, Matta has not been able to find this success at Butler. In the last three seasons, Matta has yet to bring the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament, only reaching the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 2024. The struggle can be seen by the attendance of fans, with many games not filling up the student section.
Although Matta has struggled, he still deserves some grace. The Butler legend has succeeded in the past, and deserves at least one more season to prove he still has it.
Jack Beres, a first-year sports media major, does not consider the season to be a disappointment, but he did find it underwhelming. Beres does not want Butler to be stuck in mediocrity like the other sports teams he supports, so he is ready for a change at head coach.
“I expected mediocrity,” Beres said. “I didn’t expect them [to make] the tournament. I expected them to be an NIT team, so maybe [they] underachieved slightly.”
Beres thinks that two of the biggest factors in Butler’s struggle are finances and atmosphere.
“The NIL money, especially being last in the [Big East], definitely hurt [Butler’s success],” Beres said. “Not enough people are going to games, too. When [the players] don’t have people cheering for them, you can’t get momentum in games.”
Max Haley, a sophomore strategic communication and sports media double major, has been to almost every home game this year. Haley thinks that Matta should not hold all of the responsibility for Butler’s struggles.
“I think [the responsibility is] 50-50,” Haley said. “It can only be so much on a coach. At the end of the day, it is down to the players to make the shots, make the right passes [and] play the right defense.”
All basketball programs face injuries, and Butler has not fallen short of them. The impact of injuries — something Matta can not control — is evident in the win column.
The Bulldogs started hot, going 5-1 in their first six games, with an impressive win over now-No. 13 Virginia, and only losing an away game to top-40 team SMU by two points. This shows that Matta was doing something right.
Butler’s first big injury struck when graduate guard Jalen Jackson re-aggravated an ankle injury and had to sit out the rest of the season.
Jackson’s impact can not go unnoticed, averaging 9.5 points per game and 3.8 assists per game, and shot 40% from three before his injury. However, it is not just Jackson’s individual stats that are worth pointing out.
The Dawg’s most active three-point shooters, junior guard Finley Bizjack, redshirt sophomore forward Jamie Kaiser Jr. and sophomore guard Evan Haywood saw a substantial difference in their three-point shooting in games without Jackson. Bizjack went from a 42.1% three-point shooter with Jackson to a 34.2% shooter without him. Kaiser saw a 12% drop, and Haywood saw a 14% dip.
If Jackson had been able to remain healthy and play the rest of the season, it likely would have looked a lot different. After his injury, Jackson announced he would return for another season.
It is difficult to fully critique Matta for this year, given that one of the main contributors was injured for the majority of the season. Next year should be when he is finally judged on his ability to win.
Charlie Smerek, a sophomore political science and psychology double major, thinks that Matta should get one more year, but if results fail to happen, then time is up.
“If [Matta isn’t fired] I feel like next year you gotta make the tournament,” Smerek said. “If you don’t make the tournament next year, sorry, failed experiment.”
Smerek does acknowledge that this Butler team is young and that Matta has brought in a strong recruiting class. The Dawgs’ young core includes Haywood, first-year forward Jackson Keith, and first-year guards Azavier “Stink” Robinson and Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor, all of whom played meaningful minutes this season. Butler’s class of 2025 is its highest-ranked class ever, led by four-star Robinson.
“I think [Matta’s] done a great job recruiting,” Smerek said. “I feel like if you have such a young core, which we do, we should really try and incorporate and build an offense through the team that you want to carry for the next four years.”
Butler has only landed one recruit for the class of 2026, unranked combo guard Baron Walker, from Noblesville, Indiana. The Bulldogs have also offered three-star and top 200-ranked forward Keriawn Berry, from Avon, Indiana. The Dawgs are competing with Ball State and Indiana State to land Berry’s commitment.
Butler scheduled a blue-blood opponent for the 2026-27 season at the University of North Carolina. If Matta is let go and the Dawgs go into rebuilding mode, the chance of being competitive against the Tar Heels is unlikely. If Butler is able to retain the majority of its players and bring in some transfers, the Bulldogs could do some damage.
If Matta returns for another season, ideally, many of the core players will return as well. Regardless of who comes back, Butler will have to pick up some new players in the transfer portal with graduate forward Michael Ajayi, senior center Yohan Traore and graduate guard Yame Butler all graduating.
Replacing Ajayi will be one of the most important tasks of the offseason, as he is currently fourth in the nation with 11.1 rebounds per game. Bringing in a wing to replicate his rebounding production, as well as transition offense, is a need.
A rotation of Jackson, Bizjack, Kaiser, an Ajayi replacement, junior center Drayton Jones, Robinson, Haywood and a transfer big man could make a push in a Big East that is losing a lot of talent next year. This rotation has a balance of playmaking, three-point shooting and defending.
All signs point to Matta getting another season. In an interview with IndyStar, athletic director Grant Leiendecker said he believes that Matta is the right coach for the team.
“I would think if [Matta] does not drastically improve the record next year, he will not be here,” Haley said.
There is no doubt that when Butler basketball is successful, the atmosphere from the games flows throughout campus. Bulldog fans are ready for results.
“Pick up the pace, Thad,” Haley said. “Pick it up.”
