Torrey Butler (born October 25, 1980) is an American expatriate professional basketball player. He has played in Ireland and in Austria. Butler played college basketball at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

and was named the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year twice, in 2001 and 2003.

College

Butler is a 6'3", 205-pound

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and attended

Mount Saint Joseph College Mount Saint Joseph College (commonly MSJ or Mount Saint Joe) is a Catholic college preparatory school and secondary school / high school for young men from ninth to twelfth grade sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers and founded in 1876. It is locat ...

. He then enrolled to play basketball for the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina in 1998–99. Through his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

and

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

seasons, he averaged only 9.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Then, as a junior in 2000–01, he jumped his season average to 19.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game en route to being named the conference play of the year for the first time. He became the third player from Coastal Carolina to win the award behind Derek Wilson and

Tony Dunkin Tony Dunkin (born February 16, 1970) is an American former college basketball standout for Coastal Carolina University. He is best known for being the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player to be honored as his conference player of the year ...

. Butler's scoring average was the best in the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

and his 47.6% shooting from three-point range was the second best in the nation. The following year, in what would have been Butler's

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season, he was forced to sit out due to a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. When he finally did return in 2002–03 for his belated final college season, he averaged 18.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. These averages were the second and sixth best in the conference, respectively. Butler repeated as the Big South Player of the Year and became just the third player in conference history to win the award multiple times (Dunkin was selected a national record four times, and UNC Asheville's

Josh Pittman Abdul Joshua "Josh" Pittman (born July 14, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in numerous countries throughout his career. Pittman played college basketball at University of North Carolina at Asheville, and was na ...

also won twice). Butler then went undrafted in the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

, which is considered one of the strongest NBA draft classes in history.

Professional

After trying out with several

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

teams to try to make a roster, Butler then headed overseas to play professional basketball. His first stop was in Ireland to play for the UCC Demons. After several years he was traded to Allianz Swans Gmunden in Austria.

References

# # # # # {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Torrey 1980 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in Ireland American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's basketball players Small forwards Swans Gmunden players