Georgetown women’s basketball head coach and former Baldwin High School basketball player Tasha Butts passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer, the school announced on Tuesday.
Butts, 41, was a star basketball player, nationally recognized assistant coach and first-year head coach.
'I am heartbroken for Tasha's family, friends, players, teammates and colleagues,' Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed said in a statement. 'When I met Tasha, I knew she was a winner on the court and an incredible person whose drive, passion, and determination were second to none. She exhibited these qualities both as a leader and in her fight against breast cancer.
This is a difficult time for the entire Georgetown community, and we will come together to honor her memory.'
Butts was hired at Georgetown in April from Georgia Tech after a coaching and playing career in the WNBA. She joined the Yellow Jacket women's basketball staff as an assistant coach in April 2019 and was promoted to associate head coach in April 2021 before taking the job with the Hoyas.
'Tasha's passing is a devastating loss. She was extraordinary,' Georgetown president John J.
DeGioia said. 'Tasha was a person of character, determination, vision, and kindness. She will be deeply missed by our community and by so many people around the country who her life has inspired.'
Butts helped guide Georgia Tech to backto- back appearances in the NCAA Tournament, most recently earning an at-large bid in 2021-22.
During that season, the Yellow Jackets spent 14 weeks in the national rankings, climbing as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll. It was also during this season that Butts announced she had been diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer, and she continued to play a significant role within the program while going through treatment.
During her eight seasons at CommentstartLouisiana State University (LSU), Butts was part of four 20-win seasons and six NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by back-to-back Sweet 16 runs in 2012 and 2013. She helped ink three top-20 recruiting classes (2011, 2017, 2019), while signing seven top-100 prospects, including a McDonald's All-American in 2017. In eight seasons at LSU, Butts coached and mentored six all-SEC academic honor roll recipients and developed seven all-SEC selections.
Prior to her stint at LSU, Butts recorded three successful seasons (200811) as an assistant coach at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
During the 2007-08 season, she served as an assistant coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
A four-year letterwinner at Tennessee, playing for legendary Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, Butts helped the Lady Vols to a 124-17 record from 200004. Tennessee made a run to the Sweet 16 in her freshman campaign and advanced to the 2002 Final Four in her sophomore season. She then helped the Lady Vols to back-to-back National Championship games her junior and senior seasons.
As a senior, Butts earned All-SEC Second Team honors after averaging 10.4 points per game and ranking second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (43.0).
Additionally, Butts was part of four SEC regular season championship teams, as Tennessee compiled a 55-1 SEC record in her four years.
She left UT ranked fourth all-time in games played (141) and tied for seventh in three-point shots made (103). Butt's career-high 37 points against Vanderbilt on Feb. 16, 2004, tied for 11th on the Lady Vols' single-game scoring list.
Butts graduated from Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in sports management while minoring in business administration in 2004.
She was chosen by the Minnesota Lynx with the 20th selection in the 2004 WNBA Draft and saw action in all 30 games as a rookie, helping the club equal a franchise record with 18 wins and earn a spot in the playoffs.
Following the 2004 WNBA season, she returned to her alma mater and served as a graduate assistant coach with Pat Summitt. The Lady Vols won the 2005 SEC Championship that season and advanced to the Final Four.
Butts played overseas in fall 2005 for Essa/ Barreiro in Portugal, averaging nearly 18.0 points per game. The following season, she played for Raanana Hertizliya in Israel, where she scored 15.5 points per game. Butts also played briefly with the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets of the WNBA.
Off of the court, Butts was one of just 14 assistant coaches from around the country chosen to participate in Advocates for Athletic Equity's (AAE) annual 'Achieving Coaching Excellence' Professional Development Program for basketball coaches in June 2016. In her first year at Georgia Tech, Butts was selected to participate in the 2020 Women Coaches NEXT UP program. In both 2021 and 2023, Butts was selected to the Advancement of Blacks in Sports (ABIS) Watchlist. Butts was selected among a competitive field by the WBCA and Women Leaders in College Sports to participate in the program. She also served as a WBCA mentor.
A native of Milledgeville, Butts attended Baldwin High School where she was a consensus All-American and the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year. She remains the all-time leading scorer at the school and her high school jersey No. 23 was retired in December 2000. In August 2004, Milledgeville honored Butts with a key to the city and a proclamation of achievement on 'Tasha Butts Day.'
She is survived by her parents Spencer, Sr. and Evelyn, her brother Spencer, Jr., and her nephew Marquis along with an extended family and the entire women's basketball community.
With the 2023-24 campaign tipping off in November, Darnell Haney has been named Georgetown's interim head coach for the season. The Hoyas and BIG EAST Conference will continue to honor Butts' memory all season keeping her Tasha Tough initiative going to bring awareness to early cancer screenings and detection.