After 23 seasons, Terry Butterfield is retiring in October as the UT Dallas head men’s basketball coach. Hired as just the second coach in school history in 2000, Butterfield shaped the Comets into a regional and national contender.
The search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
During his 23 seasons, Butterfield’s UTD teams have earned 20 straight berths to the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament and have captured four conference crowns (2005, 2009, 2014, 2019). He recorded a 553-343 (.617) record in 34 career seasons as a collegiate head coach and a 394-216 (.646) mark while at UTD, earning his 500th career coaching win 64-60 victory at Ozarks on Feb. 1, 2020. He was 269-140 (.658) against ASC opponents during his tenure with the Comets, claiming nine regular-season titles during that time.
Butterfield is 33rd all-time in wins as a NCAA Division III coach.
“When I arrived from the East Coast 23 years ago, I thought I would be at UT Dallas for three-to-five years,” said Butterfield. “As I prepare to step away, I feel very thankful for the great ride I have had. I have watched this university explode into what it is today and I am very proud to have been a small part of it. Most importantly, I want to thank the many young men who came to UTD to get a great education and represent our basketball program. Watching them grow and mature over their college careers has been the greatest part of the whole thing. They are the heart and soul of our great basketball tradition and I am truly grateful to have been able to interact with such amazing student-athletes. I won’t miss the long bus rides or the late night recruiting trips, but I will definitely miss the guys.”
A nine-time ASC Coach of the Year, Butterfield has mentored four All-Americans, eight NABC All-Region players and 37 All-ASC selections. He has coached four ASC East Division Players of the Year and five ASC East Defensive Players of the Year during his tenure. After the 2019-20 campaign, he was honored as the D3hoops.com South Region Coach of the Year.
“We want to thank Terry for his 23 years of service to UT Dallas and wish him the best in his retirement,” said UTD Director of Athletics Angela Marin.
Butterfield began his career as an assistant for his alma mater, Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. in 1982-83. He then served as an assistant at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. from 1984-86, Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio in 1986-87 and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1987-89.
Butterfield started his head coaching career at Virginia Wesleyan University in Norfolk, in 1989. In 11 seasons, his teams were 159-127 and had seven winning campaigns. His 1992-93 team won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and he was the ODAC Coach of the Year in 1991-92.
A 1979 graduate of Eckerd, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Secondary Education, Butterfield earned his master’s in Education from Stetson in 1986.
https://utdcomets.com/news/2023/6/20/mens-basketball-butterfield-retires-after-23-seasons.aspx
