Butler athletic director Barry Collier, architect of Butler Way, to retire in April
The architect of The Butler Way, former Butler men’s basketball coach and current athletic director Barry Collier will announce his retirement from the school, effective April 30, 2024.
Collier coached Butler from 1989-2000, compiling a 196-132 record while earning three trips to the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs went 6-22 in Collier’s first season. In the 10 seasons following, the Dawgs had a school-record five 20-win seasons with only one losing season.
Collier is second on Butler's all-time wins list, behind only Tony Hinkle, and as AD oversaw the school's ascension from Horizon League to Atlantic 10 to the Big East.
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"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities afforded me as a student-athlete, coach, and director of athletics and for the many wonderful relationships that I have built along the way," Collier said in a news release. "While it has been my privilege to be a member of teams at eight different institutions, Butler is the place that I have always called home."
As coach, Collier led the Bulldogs to the school's first Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) regular season championship in 1996-97 and to back-to-back conference tournament titles in 1997 and 1998. He added another regular season title and a third tournament crown in 1999-2000, his final season at Butler.
Collier, a former Butler Most Valuable Player during his playing days, was inducted into Butler Athletic Hall of Fame in July of 2006. Two days later he was named athletic director following six seasons as head coach at Nebraska.
Thad Matta succeeded Collier at Butler for one season before Todd Lickliter took over in 2001. Lickliter won 131 games in six seasons, but Collier’s first coaching hire as AD — Brad Stevens — took the program to new heights.
Stevens led Butler to a 30-win season in his first year as coach. Stevens broke the NCAA record for most wins in a coach's first three years and became the second-youngest coach to reach the national championship game, falling to Duke 61-59 after Gordon Hayward narrowly missed a last-second heave from halfcourt.
The following season, the Bulldogs were back to the title game, making Stevens the youngest coach to go to two Final Fours. The Dawgs lost again, this time falling to UConn 53-41.
Stevens left Butler in 2013 to become head coach of the Boston Celtics. Former Butler, Ohio State and Illinois assistant Brandon Miller succeeded Stevens, serving as Butler's coach for one season before requesting a medical leave of absence in October 2014. Butler assistant coach Chris Holtmann took over as interim coach and then got the job full-time.
Ahead of the 2016-17 season, Butler was picked to finish sixth in the Big East. Led by Kelan Martin, the Dawgs finished second in the league and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011. Holtmann was named Big East Coach of the Year and took the head coaching job at Ohio State after the season.
Collier went back to the Butler family and hired former Bulldogs player LaVall Jordan as the school’s next head coach. Jordan coached the Dawgs to two 20-win seasons in his first three years. Butler combined for 24 wins in Jordan’s final two seasons, leading to his firing and the return of Matta as Butler’s head coach in 2022.
"When I first stepped onto Butler’s campus in the fall of 1974, I immediately felt at home," Collier said in the release. "I loved my time in a Bulldog uniform and competing in Hinkle Fieldhouse. While my coaching career took me around the country for years, my heart was never too far from Indianapolis. In 1989, the opportunity to lead the Butler Bulldog men’s basketball program was the fruition of a dream, and my eleven years on the bench were memorable. To be able to return to Butler in 2006 to lead the Department of Athletics has been the icing on the cake."
This story will be updated.
Follow IndyStar Butler Insider Akeem Glaspie on X at @THEAkeemGlaspie.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler AD Barry Collier, architect of Butler Way, to retire in April
