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Butler Basketball: Head Coach LaVall Jordan’s staff starting to come together

By Lukas Harkins

Dec 21, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs forward Kelan Martin (30) high fives the mascot before the game against the Vermont Catamounts at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs forward Kelan Martin (30) high fives the mascot before the game against the Vermont Catamounts at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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After being named head coach of Butler basketball, LaVall Jordan has now secured two of his assistant coaches for the Bulldogs next season.

Earlier in June, Butler lost its head coach, Chris Holtmann, to (the) Ohio State, where he is now the head coach. With a coaching vacancy, the Bulldogs went on a coaching search, looking for someone who had experience either as a player or a coach with the Butler program. In signing LaVall Jordan away from UWM, they accomplished both.

Although top recruit Kyle Young did decide to follow Chris Holtmann to Ohio State, Jordan was able to retain four of the five class of 2017 recruits that ranked among the best in the country. In addition to filling out his roster with recruits, Jordan has also swiftly made moves to fill out his coaching staff along the bench.

For starters, he was able to retain both Emerson Kampen and Brandon Crone from the previous staff.

Then, he snagged Jeff Meyer away from the University of Michigan and John Beilein. Meyer was an assistant coach for Butler from 2001-2004 and then was an assistant on the same Michigan teams (he was an assistant from 2009-2017) as Jordan, who was an assistant with Michigan from 2010-2016.

In response to the hiring, IndyStar reported this about what Meyer thought of the opportunity to come to Butler:

"“The stars really aligned on this opportunity,” Meyer said in a statement. “LaVall is a trusted friend and a gifted basketball coach. I have great memories of our time at Butler and have continued to cheer for this program from afar. Getting back to central Indiana also brings my wife and I closer to much of our family, and that was very important to us.”"

Then, just a few days later, Jordan added Omar Lowery, who was an assistant for him at UWM, to the bench at Butler. Lowery has also been an assistant coach with Sam Houston State, San Jose State, Cal Poly, and Texas State.

As seen on Fox59, Lowry said this about Butler and joining its staff:

"“Butler is a great university with a strong basketball program that has tremendous tradition,” Lowery said. “There is a culture of excellence and doing things ‘The Butler Way’ that is evident and I see that in our student-athletes and the staff that coach Jordan has assembled.”"

So far with Butler, Jordan has done his best at creating a staff that he is comfortable and familiar with, which will certainly go a long way in maintaining the Butler tradition and making sure that recruits and current players feel comfortable around.

Next: Expectations for Butler's 2017 recruiting class

LaVall Jordan and his new staff step into a program with plenty of talent and will be looking to go back to the NCAA Tournament yet again this season. They bring back Kelan Martin, Kamar Baldwin, and Tyler Wideman as players who started numerous games a season ago, in addition to some talented recruits. Watch out for Butler to surprise some people next year, who write them off due to having a new and relatively inexperienced coach.