Niya Denise Butts (born January 10, 1978) is an American women's college basketball coach, currently associate head coach at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. She is the former head coach at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. As a player, she was a part of two national championships at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. Butts, a 6'0" forward from

Americus, Georgia Americus is the county seat of Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,230. It is the principal city of the Americus Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Schley an ...

, played college basketball for

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach who accrued 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She served as the head coac ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

from 1996 to 2000. She was a reserve for the Lady Vols, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, but was a part of

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

teams in both

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. She was also a three-time

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

All-Academic selection. Following the close of her playing career, Butts entered the coaching ranks by taking an assistant coach role at

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

in 2000. After two years there, she spent a season at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, then moved to the

as an assistant for head coach

Mickie DeMoss Mickie Faye DeMoss (born October 3, 1955) is a former American college basketball coach and player. She was the women's head coach at the University of Florida and the University of Kentucky. She was also an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech Univ ...

. She was promoted to associate head coach for the 2007–08 season. In 2008, she was named the first African-American head women's basketball coach at

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. On March 4, 2016, she coached her last game for Arizona at the Pac-12 tournament. On May 14, 2016, the University of Kentucky announced that Butts would be returning to the women's basketball program as an assistant coach under head coach Matthew Mitchell.

Head Coaching Record

References

External links

Arizona athletic bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, Niya 1978 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Arizona Wildcats women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches Michigan State Spartans women's basketball coaches People from Americus, Georgia Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball players Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles women's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball)