Amanda Kay Butler (born March 6, 1972)[1] is an American college basketball coach and former player. In 2018, Butler was hired as the head coach of the Clemson Tigers women's basketball team. Prior to that, she was the head coach for the Florida Gators women's basketball team and the Charlotte 49ers women's basketball team.[2]

Amanda Butler
Biographical details
Born (1972-03-06) March 6, 1972 (age 52)
Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
Playing career
1990–1994Florida
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–1997Florida (Asst.)
1997–2001Austin Peay (Asst.)
2001–2003Charlotte (Asst.)
2003–2005Charlotte (Assoc. HC)
2005–2007Charlotte
2007–2017Florida
2018–2024Clemson
Head coaching record
Overall311–264 (.541)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Atlantic 10 regular season (2006)
Awards
Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2006)
ACC Coach of the Year (2019)
Medal record
Women's basketball
Assistant Coach for  United States
FIBA Under-19 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2009 Bangkok Team Competition

Career edit

Amanda Butler was born in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, in 1972. She attended Mt. Juliet High School, graduating in 1990.[3] She was recruited to play for the University of Florida by the Gators' head coach, Carol Ross, and started at guard for four years. After finishing her playing career in 1994, she transitioned into coaching. Her first coaching job was as an assistant coach at Florida, where she continued her education with a Master of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Science, in 1997. After leaving her job with Florida in 1997, she coached at Austin Peay from 1997 to 2001, and served as the associate head coach for former Charlotte head coach Katie Meier from 2001 to 2005.

Butler became the sixth head coach of the Charlotte 49ers women's basketball program on April 19, 2005. She was named Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year after twenty wins and a share of the regular season championship in her first year as coach.[4]

After Carolyn Peck was released as the Gators head coach following the 2006–07 season, Butler returned to her alma mater as the new head coach of the Gators women's basketball program on April 13, 2007. She was fired on March 6, 2017, her 45th birthday.

Butler then was hired on as head coach at Clemson.[5] Butler led an incredible turnaround in her first year at Clemson. In their previous season, the Tigers finished 11–19 and 1–15 in ACC play. Butler led the team to a 9–7 ACC record and was voted the ACC Coach of the Year in 2018.[6] The Tigers turnaround during Butler's first season marked the largest turnaround under a first-year head coach in ACC history. The turn around did not extend into the 2019–20 season as Clemson finished 8–23 overall and 3–15 in conference play. In the following years, Butler was unable to replicate her success from the first season as the Tigers never finished higher than tenth in the conference. Her second best season came in 2022–23 as the Tigers finished 19–16 overall, 7–11 in ACC play, and made it to the Super 16 of the WNIT. After the 2023–24 season, where the Tigers finished 12–19 overall and 5–13 in the ACC, Butler was fired as head coach.[7]

USA Basketball edit

In 2009, Butler served as an assistant coach to the U19 team, and competed in the FIBA Women's U19 World Championship. The USA lost the opening round game against Spain 90–86, but then went on to win their next eight games. In the quarterfinals, the USA team faced France, which held an eight-point lead late in the second half, but the USA team took back the lead and won by eleven to advance to the semifinals. After beating Canada in the semifinals, they had a rematch against Spain, for the championship. This time the USA jumped out to an early lead, with a score of 33–16 at the end of the first quarter. The USA went on to win 87–71 to win the gold medal.[8]

Head coaching record edit

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Charlotte 49ers (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2005–2007)
2005–06 Charlotte 21–9 13–3 T–1st WNIT Second round
2006–07 Charlotte 19–13 9–5 T–4th WNIT Second round
Charlotte: 40–22 (.645) 22–8 (.733)
Florida Gators (Southeastern Conference) (2007–2017)
2007–08 Florida 19–14 6–8 T–7th WNIT Third round
2008–09 Florida 24–8 9–5 T–4th NCAA second round
2009–10 Florida 15–17 7–9 T–7th WNIT Second round
2010–11 Florida 20–15 7–9 8th WNIT Third round
2011–12 Florida 20–13 8–8 8th NCAA second round
2012–13 Florida 22–15 6–10 T–8th WNIT Semifinals
2013–14 Florida 20–13 8–8 5th NCAA second round
2014–15 Florida 13–17 5–11 T–11th
2015–16 Florida 22–9 10–6 T–4th NCAA first round
2016–17 Florida 15–16 5–11 T–11th
Florida: 190–136 (.581) 71–85 (.455)
Clemson Tigers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2018–2024)
2018–19 Clemson 20–13 9–7 7th NCAA second round
2019–20 Clemson 8–23 3–15 14th
2020–21 Clemson 12–14 5–12 11th WNIT Second round
2021–22 Clemson 10–21 3–15 13th
2022–23 Clemson 19–16 7–11 10th WNIT Super 16
2023–24 Clemson 12–19 5–13 T–12th
Clemson: 81–106 (.433) 32–73 (.305)
Total: 311–264 (.541)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 30 Sep 2015.
  2. ^ "Florida fires women's hoops coach Butler". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  3. ^ GatorZone.com, Women's Basketball, Coaching & Support Staff, Amanda Butler Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ "Amanda Butler Resigns As Women's Basketball Coach". UNC Charlotte. April 13, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  5. ^ "Clemson To Change Leadership of Women's Basketball". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University. March 27, 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "Louisville's Durr Repeats as ACC Women's Player of the Year". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  7. ^ Holley, Steve (March 12, 2024). "Amanda Butler out as Clemson women's basketball coach". sports.yahoo.com. Yahoo Sports. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  8. ^ "SEVENTH FIBA WOMEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP -- 2009". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.

External links edit