Columbia High School welcomed a new member to the Wildcat family with the June 7 announcement that Brian Butler has been hired as the new head coach of the boys basketball team.
Coming off of a 9-16 campaign during the 2021-22 season, the Wildcats are eager to make positive strides towards building an elite program. Athletic director Chip Bilderback believes Butler's resume shows he has all the tools and experience necessary to help the Wildcats take positive steps in that direction.
"We are very excited about the addition of Coach Brian Butler to our Wildcat family," Bilderback said. "He has an infectious energy about him that will be instrumental to our basketball program. We know that he is someone our student athletes will enjoy playing for and our community will rally behind."
Butler brings 10 years of head coaching experience to the Wildcats' sideline. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the head coach at Sacred Heart, where he helped lead the Crusaders to three consecutive Class 1A State Tournament appearances, including a remarkable 11-0 run through district play during the 2015-16 season in which the Crusaders reached the State Semifinals with a 23-6 record.
From 2018-22 Butler served as the head coach at South Jones, during which time he led the Braves to back-to-back Class 5A State Tournament appearances. This past season, he coached the team to its best record (15-7) and a deep run to the third round of the postseason, both top marks for the program over the past 20 years.
As for now, Butler is thrilled to start a new chapter and get to work with the Wildcats, eager to lift the program to new heights that he believes it is more than capable of reaching.
"I feel blessed to be a Wildcat and a part of this great community," Butler said. "I look forward to carrying on the tradition of winning here. Go Cats!"
Butler will take the place of Jordan Dupuy, who coached the Wildcats the past two seasons and led them to the second round of the playoffs in March.
