Florida Gators

Combine passion, pride, toughness, intensity, humor, wittiness, competitiveness, leadership and mix in a healthy dose of a swagger and you have Amanda Butler, who in 2016-17 completed her 10th year as head coach of the University of Florida women’s basketball team, as well as her 12th year overall at the helm of a program.
 
She finished her Gator head coaching tenure on March 6, 2017, with 190-137 record that included a 71-85 record in Southeastern Conference games. Florida earned eight postseason berths, including four in the NCAA Championship. Her career record stood at 230-159 overall and 93-93 in conference games.
 
 
Return of a Gator

• On April 13, 2007, UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley identified Butler, one of the nation’s top young coaching talents as well as a former four-year starter and two-year assistant coach for Florida, as the ninth head coach in Gator women’s basketball history.
• A four-year starter for the Gators from 1990-94
• Earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences with honors on May 6, 1995
• Awarded a Master of Exercise and Sport Sciences on Aug. 9, 1997

 
Head Coach Amanda Butler: A Postseason Regular

• Butler guided the Gators to a postseason berth in eight of her 10 years
• NCAA Appearances: 2009, ’12, '14 & '16.
• WNIT Appearances: four; reached 2013 Final Four
• First-ever coach to guide UF to a postseason berth in her inaugural season on the sideline

 
Good When We Got There

• In seven of eight trips to the postseason under Coach Butler, the Gators won at least their first round game.

 
Coach Butler & the Postseason, Part 2

• During her two years as an assistant coach at UF, Butler was on staff when the Gators earned an NCAA bid both seasons, including the 1997 run into the Elite Eight.
• In her fourth and final year as an assistant coach at Austin Peay State University, the 2001 Lady Govs earned just the second-ever NCAA bid in program history and the first since 1996.
• In her last five years with UNC Charlotte, the 49ers competed in the postseason each time, earning an NCAA bid in 2003 and a WNIT in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the final two of those coming when Butler served as the head coach of the program.

 
Amanda Butler in the NCAA Tournament ... as a Gator

• During her time as a Gator letterwinner, Amanda Butler helped Florida earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth (1993) and followed that with another her senior year (1994), playing in all three games and totaling 65 minutes, 18 points, seven rebounds, nine assists with just two turnovers.

 
Almost a 20-Win Average

• Butler averaged 19.0 wins per season through her 10 years with the Gators.

 
Recent Milestone Wins

• 200th career head coaching win (vs. Arkansas State, Dec. 7, 2015); record at milestone win was 200-135
• Earned first win vs. Top-10 opponent (d. No. 6 Kentucky, Jan. 5, 2014; 83-73)

 
SIX of UF’s 15 20-Win Seasons Under Butler

• Butler has led the Gators to six 20-win seasons in her nine years
• There have been 15 total 20-win seasons in program history, including Butler’s six

 
Tough at Home

• The Gators boasted a 70-8 home record (89.7 winning percentage) against non-Southeastern Conference teams

 
Academic Accolades Under Butler

• 21 different Gators have earned 40 spots on the SEC Academic Honor Roll
• 11 earned a spot on the Freshman Academic Honor Roll {2017 to be announced}
• 2 First Team Capital One Academic All-District 4 Team recipients

 
Individual Gator Accolades Under Butler

• All-SEC Selections: 10 athletes
• All-SEC Freshman Team Honorees: 8 athletes
• Additional Awards Achieved: SEC Co-Freshman of the Year, SEC 6th Woman of the Year, SEC All-Defensive Team (2)

 
Gator Records Under Butler

• Her second team - 2008-09 squad – finished ranked among the top-25 in both national polls, first time in program history since the 2001-02 season
• Tied program record of 24 victories (2008-09 season)
• Compiled a program-record 15-game winning streak
• Compiled a 12-game winning streak, tied for the second-longest in program history
• Won a program-record seven consecutive games against SEC teams
• Ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press national poll on Feb. 9, 2009, the program’s first top-10 showing since Feb. 12, 2001
• The 2008-09 Gators shattered the program record by hitting 221 three-pointers, breaking the old mark of 179 set the previous season

 
Butler on Elite List

• When Florida earned the No. 23 spot in the Dec. 8, 2008 Associated Press national poll, Butler became one of only 24 women in the history of NCAA Division I women’s basketball who had played for a team that was ranked in the AP Top-25 and later coached a team that earned a top-25 ranking.
• Even more rare was the fact the Butler played for and coached the SAME team that earned a top-25 ranking, becoming only the sixth woman ever to accomplish that feat.

How tough is she?

• Butler’s grittiness and feistiness held true on the sideline during 2009-10, when she ruptured her left Achilles tendon on Oct. 24, 2009, as she was quarterbacking her then-undefeated flag football team in The Swamp Bowl, the name given to the playoff round of the on-campus league event.
• In spite of the injury, Butler never missed a beat, attending the Backcourt Club’s annual membership drive event and the team’s practice the next day.
• She underwent successful surgery on Oct. 26 and was back on the sideline Oct. 28.
• The next day, she volunteered her time at the Children’s Miracle Network Art Auction that featured all art created by the pediatric patients at Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
• Butler coached the majority of the season on a sliding chair.

 
Quite the Gator Debut

• After inheriting virtually the same squad that won just nine games the previous year (2006-07), Butler and her staff produced the greatest one-year turnaround by a coach in their first year in program history, winning 19 games while facing 17 different teams that earned a postseason bid.
• Butler also became the program’s first head coach to guide Florida to a postseason berth in their debut year, as the squad competed in the WNIT, reaching the third round.

 
UAA Life Skills Cup Standings

• Gator teams compete against each other in the five areas of the CHAMPS Life Skills program: SAAC, Goodwill Gators (community outreach), workshops and presentations.
• Under Butler, the Women’s Basketball team has won the coveted award twice (2007-08 and 2010-11)
• Second Place: 2008-09
• Third Place: 2009-10

 
Head Coach Debut

• During her two years as head coach at Charlotte (2004-06), Butler compiled a 40-22 record that included two WNIT berths and a share of the 49ers first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship.
• Her debut season resulted in an overall record of 21-9, the most wins ever by a Charlotte coach in their first year, as Butler was recognized as the league’s Coach of the Year.
• The 2006-07 49ers posted a 19-13 overall mark, advancing to the WNIT second round before losing to Virginia, 74-72.

 
Promotion to Associate Head Coach

• She was promoted to Charlotte’s Associate Head Coach following the season 2002-03 season and held that title through the 2003-04 season.
• Butler emerged as a proven recruiter, bringing to Charlotte four All-Atlantic 10 selections, four Conference USA All-Freshman team members and one All-Conference USA honoree.

 
Gaining More Experience

• Butler joined the Charlotte staff on May 4, 2001, as an assistant and helped the 49ers to a 16-13 record, the program’s first winning season in eight years.
• In her second year as an assistant coach at Charlotte, the 49ers captured the 2003 Conference USA Regular-Season title and earned the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

 
“Let’s Go Peay”

• Butler spent four seasons (1997-2001) as an assistant coach at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, where then-head coach Susie Gardner hired her to take over the team’s recruiting efforts. It didn’t take long for Butler to make an impact.
• One of Butler’s recruits, Brooke Armistead, became the OVC Freshman of the Year in 2000 and closed her career as the 2003 OVC Player of the Year, as well as a Second-Team Verizon Academic All-American.
• Also under Butler’s keen eye for talent, Austin Peay became the first OVC school to land back-to-back league Freshmen of the Year recipients, with Armistead in 2000 followed the next season by Gerlonda Hardin, who emerged as the league’s 2004 Player of the Year and collected Third-Team Academic All-America honors.
• Armistead became the school’s all-time leading scorer and the first player in APSU history to be drafted by the WNBA.
• 
  Her final season resulted in the Lady Govs’ winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for just the second time in program history and making their second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, joining the 1996 APSU team in the “Big Dance” and sparking a run of four consecutive NCAA appearances for the program.

 
Breaking into the Coaching Circle  

• Upon graduation, then-Florida coach Carol Ross hired Butler as the Gators’ assistant coach for the 1995-96 season.
• That 1995-96 squad compiled a 21-9 record and earned a berth into the NCAAs.
• The following season, the Gators won a program-record 24 games and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Old Dominion, 53-51.
• Florida enjoyed two of its best finishes in the SEC Tournament during Butler’s time as an assistant, with the Gators advancing to the semifinals for the first time in program history during the 1996 campaign and followed it with the team’s first – and still only – appearance in the championship game.

 
Butler as a Gator

• On the court, the 5-foot-8 guard immediately took charge of the team from her first day at Florida, also the rookie season for Ross as head coach, as Butler started 99 of the 114 games she played during her career.
• During her junior and senior seasons, she led the Gators to the first two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history that began a run of seven consecutive trips to the “Big Dance.”
• Butler was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was voted a finalist on the CoSIDA Academic All-America District Team
• Completed her Gator career ranked second on the program’s all-time assists list with 401, while ranking among top-three for career three-pointers made (77) and attempted (278).
• The team captain during her senior season, Butler helped the Gators compile 73 victories during her tenure, the best four-year total in school history at that time, and to 21 SEC wins, also the most during a four-year span.

 
High School Days

• A native of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., Butler enjoyed a stellar prep career at Mt. Juliet High School, where she tallied over 1,400 points
• Received All-Mid-State honors and All-District honors for three straight years, including first-team recognition in 1989 and 1990
• Graduated in the top 10 percent of her senior class
• Daughter of Stephen and Barbara Butler

 
 
Amanda Butler at a Glance Full Name: Amanda Kay Butler
Hometown: Mt. Juliet, Tenn.
Born: March 6, 1972
  College: University of Florida (B.S. in Exercise and Sport Sciences, 1995; Master of Exercise and Sport Sciences, 1997)
High School: Mt. Juliet H.S. (1990 graduate)
  1995-97 Univ. of Florida Assistant Coach

• 1996 & 1997 NCAA Appearances; 1997 NCAA Elite Eight; 1997 SEC Tournament Runner-Up; Coached 1997 First-Team Kodak and Associated Press All-American, 1997 SEC Player of the Year

1997-2001 Austin Peay State Univ. Assistant Coach

• 2001 NCAA Appearance; 2001 OVC Tournament Champions, Coached 2000 & 2001 OVC Freshman of the Year

2001-03 UNC Charlotte Assistant Coach

• 2003 NCAA Appearance; 2003 Conference USA Champion

2003-05 UNC Charlotte Associate Head Coach

• 2004 & 2005 WNIT Appearances

2005-07 UNC Charlotte Head Coach

• 2006 Atlantic 10 Regular-Season Co-Champions; 2006 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year; 2006 & 2007 WNIT Appearances

2007-17 Univ. of Florida Head Coach

• 2016 WBCA Region 2 Co-Coach of the Year; 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year finalist; Coached 2017 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year (first in program history)
• NCAA Appearances: 2009, ’12, '14 & '16
• WNIT Appearances: 2008, ‘10, ‘11 & ‘13

• All-SEC Selections: 10 athletes
• All-SEC Freshman Team Honorees: 8 athletes
• Additional Awards Achieved: SEC Co-Freshman of the Year, SEC 6th Woman of the Year, SEC All-Defensive Team (2)
• 21 different Gators have earned 40 spots on the SEC Academic Honor Roll
• 11 earned a spot on the Freshman Academic Honor Roll {2017 to be announced}
• 2 First Team Capital One Academic All-District 4 Team recipients

  College: Univ. of Florida, Four-year starting guard (1990-94)
                1993 & 1994 NCAA Berths were first two in program history
 
 

Butler’s Head Coach Record
Year	School	Record	Conference	Home	Postseason
2005-06	Charlotte	21-9	13-3 (T-1)	13-2	WNIT; A-10 Co-Champs
2006-07	Charlotte	19-13	9-5 (4)	13-2	WNIT Second Round
2007-08	Florida	19-14	6-8 (T-7)	14-5	WNIT Round of 16
2008-09	Florida	24-8	9-5 (T-4)	14-1	NCAA Second Round
2009-10	Florida	15-17	7-9 (T-7)	10-7	WNIT Second Round
2010-11	Florida	20-15	7-9 (8)	12-4	WNIT Round of 16
2011-12	Florida	20-13	8-8 (8)	13-3	NCAA 2nd Round
2012-13	Florida	22-15	6-10 (T-8)	11-5	WNIT Semifinals
2013-14	Florida	20-13	8-8 (5)	12-4	NCAA 2nd Round
2015-16	Florida	13-17	5-11 (T-11)	8-9	--
2015-16	Florida	22-9	10-6 (T-4)	13-2	NCAA First Round
2016-17	Florida	15-16	5-11 (T-11)	3-6	--
Total (12 Years)		230-159	9-393	136-50	10 Postseason Berths
At Florida (10)		190-137	71-85	109-46	8 Postseason Berths
At Charlotte (2)		40-22	26-8	26-4	2 Postseason Berths