THE FLATS – Tasha Butts, who has helped Georgia Tech women’s basketball to a pair of successful seasons with head coach Nell Fortner, has been promoted to associate head coach, Fortner announced Tuesday.
“Tasha has been an integral part of our success at Georgia Tech in our first two years on The Flats,” Fortner said. “Her work with our guards and our defense has helped us experience great success within the ACC and this year’s NCAA Tournament. Through her years in this profession, she has created strong recruiting ties that have aided in our recruiting efforts as we continue to bring great student-athletes to Georgia Tech. Not only can Tasha coach and recruit, but her ability to mentor our players on life off the basketball court, is outstanding. I am extremely excited for her to be the associate head coach for women’s basketball at Georgia Tech.”
Butts joined Tech’s staff as an assistant coach with Fortner’s arrival in April 2019. A coaching veteran and former WNBA player, Butts helped the Yellow Jackets to a storied season in 2020-21, just Fortner’s second season at the helm. After finishing in third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with a 12-6 league record, Georgia Tech earned an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. Tech’s 12 conference wins tied the program record, while its No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament marked the highest-ever by the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech finished the season ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/WBCA Top 25 Postseason Coaches Poll.
In her first season on The Flats, Butts and the coaching staff guided Tech to a 20-11 overall record and defeated four top-25 programs, including topping No. 4 NC State for the highest ranked road win in program history.
Several Yellow Jackets have collected accolades during Butts’ tenure, most recently junior guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen being named the 2021 ACC Most Improved Player and WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America honorable mention.
“I’m extremely grateful and thankful of the trust Nell has in me,” said Butts. “From day one of working with her, she has allowed me to have a voice within our team and to make a difference daily. This promotion is a blessing, and I’m honored to be the associate head coach of Georgia Tech women’s basketball.”
Prior to her arrival on The Flats, Butts served as an assistant coach at LSU for eight years where she was part of four 20-win seasons and six NCAA Tournament appearances. She helped ink three top-20 recruiting classes and helped LSU return to national prominence in 2018, cracking the AP Top 25 poll for the first time in four years.
Before her time at LSU, Butts recorded three successful seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA. While with the Bruins, UCLA made two NCAA Tournament appearances, compiled a 72-26 overall mark and earned back-to-back second place finishes in the Pac-10 Conference. Butts also worked for one season at Duquesne University.
A four-year letterwinner at Tennessee, Butts helped the Lady Vols to a 124-17 record from 2000-04, with four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16, Final Four and consecutive National Championship game showings, and four SEC regular-season championships.
Butts graduated from Tennessee with a bachelor of science in sports management and minor in business administration in 2004. She was chosen by the Minnesota Lynx with the 20th selection in the 2004 WNBA Draft, and spent time playing professionally in both the WNBA and overseas.
A native of Milledgeville, Ga., she attended Baldwin High School where she was a consensus All-American and Gatorade Player of the year. Her high school jersey No. 23 was retired in December 2000.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and the Support The Swarm Fund, created to give fans an opportunity to help Georgia Tech athletics maintain its recent momentum through the financial challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GTWBB), Instagram (GTWBB), Facebook (Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
