Busting Brackets
Fansided

Butler Basketball: Bulldogs hire LaVall Jordan as new head coach

By Lukas Harkins

Feb 19, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs cheerleader waves a flag as the team runs onto the floor before a game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler defeats DePaul 82-66. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs cheerleader waves a flag as the team runs onto the floor before a game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler defeats DePaul 82-66. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

After one season as the head coach at UWM, LaVall Jordan has been hired to be the new coach of Butler basketball.

Recently, former Butler head coach Chris Holtmann left the program to become the head coach at (the) Ohio State University. In the ensuing coaching search by the Butler administration, athletic director Barry Collier decided to stay within “The Butler Way” and hire one of its own.

Related Story: Five potential replacements for Holtmann at Butler

The candidates up for discussion included Ryan Pedon, Micah Shrewsberry, Terry Johnson, and LaVall Jordan. Barring a breakdown during contract negotiations, Jordan will be the one getting the top job despite just one season of head coaching experience. Jordan has been instrumental as an assistant coach at several universities, including Butler.

Jordan attended Butler and played four years of college hoops for the Dawgs from 1997-2001. He started his coaching career a few years later working for Butler as an assistant from 2004-2007. He then spent three years at Iowa and six years at Michigan as an assistant. This past season, he was hired by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as the head coach.

In his initial season with the Panthers, he led an inexperienced roster with none of his own recruits to an 11-24 record. This might not strike anyone as being an incredible coach, but he did lead his team to the Horizon League Tournament Championship Game, despite being the 10th seed in the league.

Even though they lost their head coach, the Butler Bulldogs are still in very good shape as a program. Barry Collier has a great reputation in terms of hiring coaches (see Stevens, Brad) and there is no reason not to trust his judgement in a coaching search. Also, the program stuck to their roots by hiring a guy with lots of experience with the program, its values, and its leadership.

Across the country, LaVall Jordan has a positive reputation both as a coach and as a recruiter. As long as the current recruiting class stays with the Bulldogs, Jordan will start his first season with the Dawgs with a roster returning multiple starters (Tyler Wideman, Kelan Martin, and Kamar Baldwin) in addition to possibly one of the best recruiting classes in program history.

The coaching situation is not quite over yet for the Bulldogs, however. It is still very possible that one or many assistant coaches could follow Holtmann to Ohio State and recruits can still reopen their recruitment and go elsewhere. Will everyone stick around, and if so, how will Jordan do on his first recruiting trips over the summer?

Next: Five best Butler games from 2016-17

With Jordan now in control of the program, the Bulldogs once again stayed within their system and are looking to strike gold.