Da’Sean Butler, the winningest men’s basketball player in school history playing on teams with 107 victories, was named assistant men’s basketball coach at WVU on July 1, 2023.
Butler, a WVU graduate assistant on the men’s basketball staff in 2012-13, returned to WVU after serving as assistant video coordinator for the New York Knicks this past season. Previously, he served as an assistant coach of the College Park Skyhawks in the NBA G League and as an assistant at Wheeling University. Butler served as an NBA Summer League coach for the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics. He also served as an NBA G League Elite Camp head and assistant coach.
Butler finished his Mountaineer career third in points scored from 2007-10. Butler registered 2,095 points, ranking third in school history behind Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley. In 2010, he became the ninth first team All-American in school history after he was named to the Basketball Times and John Wooden All-America teams. Butler was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
A second-team selection by the Associated Press and third-team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2010, Butler led WVU to a 107-39 record during his career and three straight NCAA appearances, including the 2010 Final Four and 2008 Sweet 16. Butler also directed WVU to an NIT championship in 2007, and the school’s first Big East tournament title in 2010.
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Butler earned First Team All-Big East honors, was named to the NCAA East Region All-Tournament team and selected as the Big East Championship Most Outstanding Player in 2010. The 2010 winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award, Butler set WVU records in double-figure scoring games (108), career minutes played (4,491) and career games played (146).
Butler averaged 14.3 points during his career and had 26 20-point games and 11 double-doubles. His 205 3-point field goals rank fifth in school history, and he ranks eighth in career offensive rebounds with 270. Butler is third in career field goals made (741), sixth in career free throws made (408), 13th in career rebounds (800), 11th in career starts (110) and 13th in career steals (154).
Butler scored 150 points in Big East tournament games and 134 points in nine NCAA tournament games, ranking second in school history behind Jerry West. He scored a career-high 43 points on a sprained ankle in a win over Villanova in 2009, two points shy of the Coliseum record for a WVU player.
He averaged 17.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a senior, setting the school record for minutes played in a season with 1,360. Butler was a finalist for the John Wooden Award and Naismith Award. He had six game-winning shots as a senior, including two in the Big East Championship against Cincinnati and Georgetown.
Butler was named to the All-Big East Second Team as a junior and to the Big East All-Rookie Team as a freshman. He also was a multiple selection to the Big East Academic All-Star Team.
He was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. Butler was a graduate assistant on the WVU men’s basketball staff in 2012-13. Since 2013, he has played professional basketball in Europe and Asia.
Butler graduated from WVU in 2010, with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies and with a master’s degree from WVU in athletic coaching education in 2021.
He is married to Megan Butler and they have three children, Draelyn, Donovan and Melina.
