Butler's New Coach Search: Local Ties & Big-League Know-How

0:00On March 16th, Thad Mata is stepping away from coaching Butler men's basketball after four seasons at the helm. He'll keep his title a special assistant to the president and athletic director and an advisory role. Now a national search is underway for the 26th head coach of this historic program. Earlier this week, names like Ronald Nord and Alex Barlow emerged as top frontrunners. The 36 year old Nord, an indie native and former Butler standout, brings over a decade of NBA and G-League assistant experience from the Atlanta Hawk staff. Barlow, a 33 year old ex-butler player, just led the main Celtics to a solid 19 win season and G-League playoffs. Fans are buzzing about candidates with deep butler roots, like athletic director grant line-decker's old assistants, Terry Johnson at Purdue, Matthew, Grey's at Indiana State, and Michael Shrewsbury at Notre Dame. He want that family connection, especially with Shrewsbury's sons already shining

1:00in college hoops. Meanwhile, hot names from the Mac include Travis Steele, who took Miami University to a perfect 31 and 0 regular season and their first. March managed trips since 2007, and John Gross, who's built Akron into a tournament regular. Outside hires like Northern Iowa's, Ben Jacobson, ESPN analyst Tom Kreen, and UConn assistant Luke Murray at fresh possibilities. With so many qualified options blending local ties, recent success, and Bigley Knowhow, Butler's next era looks full of promise as the search heats up.