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Butler Names Assistant Men's Basketball Coaches
April 9, 2007 New Butler men's basketball coach Brad Stevens wasted little time in assembling a staff of assistant coaches for the 2007-08 campaign. Just four days after being named to Butler's top basketball position, Stevens unveiled a staff that includes three faces familiar to Butler fans. Stevens retained assistant coach Matthew Graves from last year's Butler staff. He then hired former Butler player Brandon Miller and former Butler coordinator of basketball operations Terry Johnson to fill his remaining two assistant coaching positions. "I'm excited to have these three guys on our staff," stated Stevens. "The goal was to hire people who work diligently, who care about our players and who understand and appreciate Butler University. We've done that with three very talented coaches. The bonus is that we have three guys who know our system and will be able to teach it immediately." Graves just completed his fourth season as a Butler assistant coach. The former Butler basketball player joined coach Todd Lickliter's staff in 2001-02 as coordinator of basketball operations, and he accepted a full-time assistant coaching position with the Bulldogs in 2003-04. He's been involved in every aspect of Butler's basketball program from scheduling to recruiting to game preparation and on-court coaching/teaching. Graves played at Butler from 1993 to 1998, helping the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He currently ranks on Butler's "Top 10" lists for both three-point field goals and free throw shooting. "Matthew is a great coach and teacher who knows Butler and who has a thorough understanding of our system. He's helped develop the program to where it is today, and I'm thrilled that we could keep him on our staff," said Stevens.
Miller, who helped Butler to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances as a player, spent the past three seasons on the staff of former Butler head coach Thad Matta at Ohio State. He served two years as director of basketball operations and one year as the program's video coordinator. Miller is one of just nine players in Butler basketball history to score over 1,000 points in three seasons, and he was Co-Most Valuable Player of Butler's 2002-03 team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He currently ranks third on Butler's all-time list for three-point field goals and seventh in all-time assists. Johnson is returning to Butler after spending one season as an assistant coach under Dane Fife at IPFW. He spent two seasons (2004-06) as Butler's coordinator of basketball operations and he served in a similar capacity at Auburn in 2003-04. Johnson, who was a two-sport athlete (baseball and basketball) at both Lincoln Trails Junior College and Lamar University, had previous basketball coaching experience at Indiana Tech (1999-01), IPFW (1997-98) and Lincoln Trails (2001-03) prior to his most recent appointment at IPFW. "Brandon and Terry bring tremendous energy to the program," continued Stevens. "Both men work extremely hard, and both are very talented basketball coaches." All three Butler assistant men's basketball coaches will begin their duties immediately. |
