After a year away from coaching, Clemson is 'what's next' for Amanda Butler
CLEMSON -- Amanda Butler was 16 years old when she visited Clemson for the first time.
It wasn’t too long ago, she jokes with a smile, but the moment she arrived on campus as a high school basketball player was a significant moment in her life. She just didn’t know it yet.
She barely remembers anything from her first visit. The competition at the all-star camp she took part in wasn’t too memorable and the long drive from Mount Juliet, Tennessee was quickly forgotten.
But one aspect about Clemson stuck out the most and still sticks with her to this day: the big orange paw prints painted on the road around campus.
“At that time as a very young person, I was amazed,” Butler said. “I’d never seen anything like that, but I knew it was an indication of like this place is special, this place is neat. Something cool was about to happen to me. That feeling is so real and so attainable.”
Years later in her latest visit to campus, she had the same exact feeling as she did the first time she laid eyes on the paw. Once the opportunity presented itself to be Clemson’s newest coach, she didn’t hesitate to accept.
She paused a moment at her introductory press conference as Clemson’s 7th women’s basketball head coach to reflect and acknowledge that feeling.
“Wow. This is just as cool as it was when I was 16 years old but now I just understand it more,” Butler said. “I understand the uniqueness. I understand how special and memorable this opportunity is. It was really thrilling and not lost on me at all the power of the paw.”
A lot was said from Butler this afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum in the 20-minute press conference. A tone of excitement rang through her voice, and she spoke from the heart.
She acknowledged her family, which took up the two front rows on the right side of the press conference and seemed as excited as she was to be joining the Clemson family. She acknowledged her new family, members of her team who sat in the back, and asked them to wave. Butler met them this morning after a workout where she sat back and observed.
“We also need to keep the main thing the main thing. Some of the main things are here,” as she pointed out the players in the back.
She addressed the importance of adding a few more “main things” in the near future. Keeping the state of South Carolina’s best players in this state and at Clemson is one of the first priorities she mentioned.
“We have to guard our yard,” she exclaimed. “That’s something that’s not gonna be easy, but it’s definitely something that’s gonna be part of our pursuit and it’ going to be well worth the energy invested.”
She acknowledged her time at Florida where she played for the University, coached the Gators from 2007-17, and appeared in the postseason in eight of those ten seasons. In six of those seasons, Florida finished with 20 or more wins.
Clemson hasn’t gotten to 20 wins since 2000 and hasn’t seen any postseason action since 2004. Butler noted that Clemson is in a similar position now that when Florida was when she took the reigns there.
Butler was thankful for her experience at Florida. She learned so much more than just basketball during her time in Gainesville. After she was fired from the program after two losing seasons in her final three years, she took a year to get away from coaching.
The last year of her life has been a whirlwind of soaking up as much knowledge as she can about the game of basketball.
In what seemed to be a basketball world tour, she made a stop in Oklahoma City to learn from Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, a former colleague at Florida. Another stop was made in Boston where she talked shop with Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.
She even took a couple of days to visit the University of Connecticut, the powerhouse of women’s basketball, and meet with head coach Geno Auriemma to observe practice.
All these trips, visits, and pit stops had one recurring theme for Butler: finding her love for basketball again.
“It was so fortifying, and it was so enriching, but one of the biggest blessings of that experience besides the actual knowledge and experience was that every day I was reminded how much I love basketball,” Butler added. “How much I love coaching. How much I love being a part of a team… I couldn’t have dreamed of a better combination. I couldn’t have dreamed a better way for this year to culminate in a new beginning.”
There will be some challenges along the way in this new beginning for Butler. She’s currently putting together a staff who will be relationship-oriented and have a passion for making an impact on student-athletes’ lives.
There was a personal invitation for former Clemson players who played in the program to join Butler and her pursuit of excellence. She quoted Galatians 6:9 as part of her plea:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
The support from the alumni of this program could go a long way, especially after the program’s recent struggles in a conference that now has a national champion.
“We have big goals, we have big dreams,” Butler said. “We want to impact the national landscape of women’s basketball eventually. We cannot do that alone.”
Butler mentioned there will be a unique style of basketball she will bring with her to Littlejohn. A style that is fun to watch, fast-paced, and uses the entire court with passion and energy. The hope is that current fans will enjoy what her team displays on the court and some new fans will begin to take notice.
There will be quite a process moving forward as she gets settled into her new role, but there is an excitement built within her. She literally wore her emotions on her sleeve as she approached the podium dressed in an all-orange suit with a purple shirt underneath.
It’s a new favorite of hers.
Yes, even the fingernails were painted orange, and the toenails painted purple, too.
“I think we’re supposed to have on orange on Fridays, right? Isn’t that what we do around here?” Butler laughed.
The wardrobe of choice embodied the eagerness she has moving forward. At the end of the press conference, she quickly glanced down at her new tiger paw lapel pin that she placed just right on her jacket.
The same paw that gave her a special feeling that something cool was going to happen when she was 16.
“As much as I want to spend time here today answering questions and getting to know you, I’ve also got a little bit of work to do,” Butler added.
“I cannot even tell you how excited I am. All I’ll say right now is, ‘Go Tigers.’”