Things have not exactly gone according to plan for the Bulldogs since Thad Matta returned to campus back in 2022. Over the last three years he’s watched conference rival UConn win a pair of titles while Butler hasn’t been higher than 8th place in the Big East. Including last season’s 15-20 mark, the Bulldogs are clearly struggling and suddenly haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament in seven years.
As we’ve seen more and more often in this new college basketball world, nearly the entirety of Butler’s roster turned over in the offseason. Lead scorers Jahyml Telfort and Patrick McCaffery graduated, but Pierre Brooks entered the transfer portal and he’s not the only missing piece that Matta may have expected back in 2026. Fortunately it’s not completely starting over, as Finley Bizjack returns for his junior year and likely becomes the new anchor for the backcourt after a good sophomore campaign.
Incoming freshmen supplement what is a decent transfer class, as five new faces landed with the Bulldogs. Butler added significant frontcourt depth, getting former centers Drayton Jones from South Carolina State and Yohan Traore from SMU. Yame Butler did solid work with Drexel while former Purdue-Fort Wayne guard Jalen Jackson was one of the best offensive players in the Horizon League last season.
We’re looking at the whole story here when we say that Michael Ajayi is the most important of the new weapons from the portal. A 6-7 wing originally from Kent, Washington, Ajayi played well as a JUCO player at Pierce College in his home state before latching on at the D1 level. As a junior at Pepperdine, Ajayi put up 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, becoming First Team All-WCC as the league’s top scorer. He transferred to Gonzaga last season and didn’t have the same production, averaging just 6.5 points and 5.4 rebounds.
While at Pepperdine, Ajayi showcased his talent as a dynamic scorer, rebounder, and defender and it’s exactly this that the Bulldogs are hoping comes to Indianapolis. This program lost a ton of talent across the board and really need Ajayi to play standout basketball, assuming one of the starting jobs at forward. Butler doesn’t need those same exact figures as his time with the Waves, but Matta and company are hoping he can regain some of that momentum after not finding his footing with the Bulldogs.
The bottom line is that a return to form would go a long way towards getting Butler back competitive in the Big East. Looking at the big picture, it’s hard to call this current Butler team a contender in a conference where teams like UConn, Creighton, Marquette, and St. John’s have shown such brilliance in recent years. However, Ajayi might just be that missing piece that can inspire something here, though it all depends on how this new wing can handle Big East defenses.