Butler Basketball: 2022-23 season preview for the Bulldogs

For the first time since Kamar Baldwin knocked down a game-winner at Xavier on March 7, 2020, there’s real excitement surrounding this Butler program and this 2022-23 Butler Basketball team. In that pandemic-shortened campaign, the Bulldogs finished 22-9 and 25th at KenPom. It was easily LaVall Jordan’s best team during his tenure at Butler and a postseason might’ve given him a longer leash than he got.

Alas, there was a global pandemic, and Jordan, who hadn’t officially been to the tournament since 2018, was fired after another under .500 season in 2022. Butler went 24-34 over the last two seasons and finished outside the top 115 at KenPom both years.

In 2021-22, specifically, the Bulldogs finished 14-19 and 6-14 in the Big East. That conference record was good enough to beat only Georgetown, who finished 0-19 in league play. Butler struggled mightily on the offensive end finishing 187th in offensive efficiency. They were 333rd in the country in 3-point shooting and 295th in effective field goal percentage. On the defensive end, it wasn’t much better. A historically good defensive program finished 95th in efficiency and really struggled with interior defense, especially in Big East play.

Enter Thad Matta.

Butler hired Matta in early April and it’s taken him exactly one offseason to inject life into the program. The sports’ 27th most prolific winner in history – based on coaching win percentage – in his second stint at Butler experienced early victories in key places. First and foremost, he got Butler’s most important players from a season ago to come back to Indianapolis. Second, he brought in several key transfers at point guard and center to help sure up a roster that had clear holes last year.

With the departure of Aaron Thompson, Bryce Golden, and Bryce Nze, the product on the floor will look very different inside Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2022-23

It’s important to note that Georgia State transfer Jalen Thomas will miss the beginning of the season due to a pulmonary embolism. The program says he is expected to make a full recovery, but the timetable for his return is uncertain.

The question for Butler this season is how fast this newfound energy turns into on-court success. The Bulldogs haven’t finished better than 10th in the 11-team Big East and the conference has plenty of good teams again this season.

Here’s a closer look at Butler’s players, schedule, and overall outlook.