Butler Basketball

The Butler Bulldogs are paying homage to their home city.

The men's basketball team revealed new alternate uniforms called the "Checker Out" uniforms in honor of "The Racing Capital of the World."

Butler is located in Indianapolis, which is the home to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the famous Indianapolis 500 IndyCar race.

The race is held annually and the 2025 version will be held on May 26. It has been held since 1911, which is 15 years after Butler's inaugural basketball season.

The Bulldogs are currently 7-9 on the 2024-25 season and 0-5 within the Big East Conference. They have not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2018.

Butler will wear the uniforms for Saturday's matchup against Creighton. It is the second annual "Checker Out" game and fans will be asked to wear white or dark shirts based on their sections. This will be done to create a checkered flag pattern within the arena.

Two collegiate basketball alums out of Iowa turned Indiana hoopers, Caitlin Clark and Tyrese Haliburton, were both in attendance for the Wisconsin Badgers' 83-74 victory over the Butler Bulldogs on Saturday.

The game took place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse where both the NBA's Indiana Pacers and the WNBA's Indiana Fever call home.

The No. 20 ranked Badgers entered Saturday's road game on a three-game losing streak, clearly entering Indianapolis with vengeance as they took a 47-33 lead entering halftime.

Saturday was not the first time that the two stars have attended a Butler game together, previously having seen them hit the court on Nov. 11 as they took a 85-65 victory over Western Michigan.

Iowa Hawkeyes alum Clark made waves in her rookie WNBA season with the Fever, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from the three-point line.

On top of her groundbreaking rookie season with the Fever, Clark was named TIME'S 2024 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

Clark was also present for the Pacers' 114-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, where Haliburton hit nine three-pointers and scored 34 points.

Iowa State Cyclones alum Haliburton is a two-time All-Star in his fifth year, averaging 18.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 8.5 assists while shooting 42.6 percent from the field.

Caitlin Clark still has some ties to the college basketball landscape.

Clark's boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey, has been officially hired as an assistant coach for Butler's men's basketball team. Following the news, Clark took to Instagram to celebrate McCaffery's hiring.

Clark posted a story to her Instagram page of McCaffery's official hiring announcement and captioned it "Yayyy!!! So happy for you ❤️."

Clark is in the midst of a strong rookie campaign for the Indiana Fever, averaging 19.5 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds while leading the Fever to a 20-19 record. This comes after a prolific collegiate career at Iowa where she was a four-time All-American, two-time Player of the Year and led her Iowa Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship game.

McCaffery played for the Hawkeyes men's team and appeared in 166 games across six seasons. He averaged 4.5 points, 3.2 assists and three rebounds in his collegiate career.

He now joins the staff of a Butler team that is coming off an 18-15 season and has not reached the NCAA Tournament since the 2017-18 season.

Greg Oden, who starred at Ohio State before the Portland Trail Blazers selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, will join his former college head coach Thad Matta's new staff at Butler University.

David Woods of the Indianapolis Star broke the news Tuesday on Oden, who played under Matta during the 2006-07 season.

The Buckeyes reached the national title game, where they fell to Florida. Oden averaged 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per contest.

The 7-footer then made the leap to the NBA. Unfortunately, knee injuries derailed a promising NBA career. He ended up undergoing three microfracture surgeries and seven knee surgeries overall.

Oden showed a glimpse of what he was capable of in 2009-10, when he posted 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game. He ended up playing 105 NBA games over three seasons before retiring.

Oden will now get the opportunity to work the sidelines in Indianapolis, where he starred at Lawrence North before jumping to OSU.

Per Woods, Oden's role is to-be-determined. Matta already has three full-time assistants in Mike Pegues, Kevin Kuwik and David Ragland. He also added another former Buckeye in Jon Diebler, who left OSU as the Big Ten's all-time three-point maker (374).

Matta coached at OSU from 2004 to 2017 before taking the Butler job this year. He previously served as an assistant at Butler from 1991 to 1994 and 1997 to 2000 before leading the Bulldogs as their head coach in 2000-01. Matta then spent three years at Xavier before heading to OSU.

Butler University confirmed men's basketball player Carlos "Scooby" Johnson is no longer in enrolled at the school as he faces multiple charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault inside a school dormitory in February, according to David Woods of the Indianapolis Star. 

Woods reported a probable cause affidavit was filed Thursday in Marion County, Indiana—where the school is located. Butler said Johnson was charged with rape, attempted rape and sexual battery.

The 19-year-old did not play for the men's basketball program following knee surgery last August. 

Per a Butler statement:

The University takes these allegations very seriously and has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct, violence, and harassment, per our Sexual Misconduct Policy, our top priority is the safety of our students and campus community, and the University provides support and resources to all students. 

Out of respect to the students’ federal privacy rights and the ongoing criminal process, the University is not at liberty to divulge additional information at this time.

Butler police were dispatched to a campus dorm at 2:07 a.m. local time on Feb. 4 to investigate a reported sexual assault with injury. Johnson was interviewed that night and was informed his room was now considered a crime scene. He was temporarily detained.

The woman involved was transported to a local hospital for a forensic exam, which found injuries to her genitals. Blood collected from Johnson's undergarments later matched a sample from the woman. 

Johnson is no longer listed on the Butler roster. The 2020 Mr. Basketball winner in Michigan was a 3-star recruit, according to the 247 Sports Composite.  

It was ranked-on-ranked crime at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday night. 

The No. 18 Seton Hall Pirates upset the No. 5 Butler Bulldogs 78-70 behind senior guard Myles Powell's game-high 29 points. 

Sophomore guard Jared Rhoden emphatically sealed the victory, though:

The Bulldogs were led by senior guard Kamar Baldwin's 19 points and bolstered by junior reserve forward Jordan Tucker's 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. 

It was an evenly matched contest throughout with Butler's largest lead being 10 points and Seton Hall's nine. The Bulldogs led 40-30 at halftime, but their last lead of the night came with 3:48 remaining in regulation.

Butler made it a one-possession game twice down the stretch, but the Pirates didn't budge.

After forward Sean McDermott gave Butler a 66-65 lead at the 3:48 mark, Rhoden hit two free throws to put Seton Hall in front at the 3:32 mark. Powell sunk a three-pointer to make it a four-point advantage before Butler's Derrik Smits answered with a layup, narrowing the lead to 70-68.

Rhoden wouldn't allow the Bulldogs to get any closer:

While Powell is unquestionably the Pirates' engine, leading the team with 22.0 points per game this season, Rhoden's production has proved essential in Seton Hall victories:

It's just the second time in the last 10 seasons that Butler has lost a home game when leading by 10 points or more at halftime, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and the Bulldogs are 60-2 in such games during that span.

Seton Hall also made some history Wednesday night:

Butler dropped to 15-2, previously losing 53-52 to the No. 2 Baylor Bears on Dec. 10, while 13-4 Seton Hall notched its seventh straight victory. The Pirates' winning streak began on Dec. 19 with a 52-48 win over the No. 17 Maryland Terrapins, who were ranked No. 7 at the time.

The Butler Bulldogs handed the top-ranked Villanova Wildcats their first loss of the season, 101-93, on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Villanova was the second undefeated team to lose Saturday after the TCU Horned Frogs fell 90-89 to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Butler led by as many as 23 points in the second half before the 2016 national champions trimmed the deficit to six points with 1:35 remaining in the game. The Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel noted how the Bulldogs were shooting themselves in the foot to aid the Wildcats' comeback:

Butler sank six straight free throws inside the final minute to help seal the victory. It's the first time Villanova allowed 100 points to an opponent since a 101-80 defeat to the Creighton Bluejays on Feb. 16, 2014.

Butler shared a clip of the game's final seconds and the fans' celebration after the final buzzer:

Hot shooting powered Butler to the upset. The Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the floor and made 15 of their 22 attempts from three-point range against what was the ninth-best team in adjusted defense, according to KenPom.com.

Especially in the first half, junior guard Paul Jorgensen symbolized Butler's offensive onslaught. He had 16 points at the half and wasn't afraid to pull up from anywhere inside half court. CBS Sports shared a replay of Jorgensen's three-pointer from about 30 feet with 1:29 left in the half:

Jorgensen finished with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Kelan Martin led Butler with 24 points. Martin also collected eight rebounds to narrowly miss out on a double-double.

Jalen Brunson was the game's leading scorer, tying a career high with 31 points in a losing effort. The junior guard also displayed his slick ball-handling with a crossover on Butler guard Kamar Baldwin, courtesy of CBS Sports:

Butler reached the NCAA tournament in each of Chris Holtmann's three seasons as head coach. Many expected that streak to end after Holtmann left in June to coach the Ohio State Buckeyes.

However, the Bulldogs are well on track to reach the Big Dance under LaVall Jordan. ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected them as a No. 9 seed in his most recent edition of Bracketology, and beating the best team in the country will be a massive addition to Butler's overall resume.

The Bulldogs can't celebrate Saturday's win for too long, though. They face off with the sixth-ranked Xavier Musketeers on Tuesday before playing the No. 23 Seton Hall Pirates and No. 25 Creighton—all over an eight-day period.

Villanova, on the other hand, will have plenty of time to stew over its first loss. The Wildcats don't return to the court until Jan. 6, when they play the Marquette Golden Eagles.

There's no question Villanova will fall out of the top spot when the new Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls are unveiled, but the Wildcats will have ample opportunity to reassert themselves as the best team in college basketball. And they'll have their shot at revenge when they welcome Butler to Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 10

Butler announced LaVall Jordan as its next head coach of its basketball team on Monday.

Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com first reported the news and added the deal will be for six years.

Jordan, who has been a head coach for only one year at Milwaukee, would be replacing Chris Holtmann after the former Bulldogs coach accepted the same position at Ohio State.

The 38-year-old led the Panthers to an 11-24 record in his lone season as a head coach. Prior to that, he was an assistant with Michigan and Iowa as well as Butler from 2003-07 under Todd Lickliter.

Jordan Cornette of CBS Sports is a big fan of the team's decision:

Although there was a gap between his time with the Bulldogs to now, Jordan will follow in the tradition of head coaches starting as assistants within the program. As David Woods of the Indy Star noted, Thad Matta, Lickliter, Brad Stevens, Brandon Miller and Holtmann were all promoted from within.

Unfortunately, these coaches continue to leave, causing Jordan to be the fourth head coach in a span of six seasons.

With a handful of quality players returning from a Sweet 16 squad, however, Butler has a chance to be a top team in 2017-18 no matter who is on the sidelines.