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It's June, and with news slowly piling in to complete next season's roster, and recruiting for 2025 really kicking into gear, I figured it was a good time for an update. There’s been some news breaking inside and outside of Hinkle Fieldhouse, so let’s break it all down.
Jahmyl Telfort Returns to Butler
He took it all the way to the deadline, but Jahmyl Telfort has announced that he will be returning to Butler for his final season of eligibility. Telfort used these last few months to gather information on where NBA Scouts see his skillset, develop relationships and see how he can improve his stock entering next season, which will be in large part due to his on-court production next season.
With Butler also returning Pierre Brooks, the Bulldogs have a very formidable duo on the wings, both who will be counted on to produce a ton. Posh Alexander, DJ Davis and Jalen Thomas all leave, opening up guys like Telfort and Brooks to have the ball in their hands much more.
Butler doesn’t have a clear lead guard, which means that Telfort’s ability to initiate the offense will be crucial. Especially if Butler looks to play some bigger lineups, putting Brooks and Telfort on the floor with some of the wings they acquired in the transfer portal, like Jamie Kaiser and Patrick McCaffery.
Patrick McCaffery is the third most proven player on this Butler roster, behind Brooks and Telfort. McCaffery has played over 20MPG in the Big Ten for three straight seasons, including one season where he averaged 10.5PPG. He’s not coming to Butler to sit, and Telfort’s versatility to bang inside, or initiate the offense could allow for him to play really well next to McCaffery and throw out some unique lineup combinations.
I think Jahmyl Telfort is an All-Conference talent. Telfort, or his counterpart Pierre Brooks, give the Bulldogs the best chance they’ve had for an All-Conference talent since Kamar Baldwin made the All-Big East First Team for the 2019-20 season. Only Georgetown has had a longer drought, with Jessie Govan being their last All-Conference selection in 2018-19.
While this news was expected, this is still excellent news for Bulldog fans. Jahmyl Telfort's return to school makes this team significantly better.
Christian Jeffery Plans Visits to Butler
Some brief recruiting news, as it came out that Christian Jeffery is planning an official visit to Butler. Jeffery is a priority recruit for Butler in the class of 2025.
This was my brief scouting report on Jeffery, who really saw his stock rise in the latest On3 Rankings Update (from 176 to 73).
Another name to watch is local product Azavier "Stink" Robinson. The Lawrence North product is a really shifty and crafty PG, who thrives in getting to the lane. He’s He’s a top player in Indiana, and a huge target for the Bulldogs, who aim to find their PG of the future.
Both are lead guards, Jeffery is more physical and bigger, Stink is more flashy. Villanova looks to be the main competition for Jeffery, with Michigan starting to get involved. Stink has a pretty solid list of offers, with just about every local program aiming to get involved.
Butler’s search for a lead guard in the Class of 2025 continues, and these are certainly two names to watch this summer.
Butler’s NIL/The Future
A Twitter user known as the “ButlerGuru” held an interview on our podcast with Mr. Graham Honaker, who has just accepted a position inside of Hinkle to fundraise for NIL. It was a very informative interview, that I would recommend Bulldog fans listen to.
This quote stood out to me upon listening
Also, emphasizing many times that Butler athletics aren’t just men's hoops (in fact, the school’s cross country program has been excellent the past few years).
The school's profile has leveled up because of athletics, and to prove that point, if basketball wasn’t a big deal at Butler, I likely would not have attended. Butler Basketball being good, levels up the amount of support for all other programs, in a perfect world (this is more so my opinion than anything expressed in the interview) other programs will rise, too.
It’s no secret Butler is a smaller school, but Mr. Honaker made it very evident that just because its a smaller school doesn’t mean that Butler can’t compete. In fact, at smaller schools the alumni base is more tied to that school. It’s a very loyal fanbase, and schools with smaller NIL budgets out there are proving it can be done.
Washington State is a great example, in the final season of the Pac-12, the Cougars, holding one of the lowest budgets across the board in High Major athletics, finished second in the Pac-12 only to Arizona, and went out there and won an NCAA tournament game. If they can do it, Butler definitely can.
But there are also some older Butler fans who are slowly being turned off of college sports with NIL and the transfer portal, it’s a pretty massive change for the sport that seemingly happened overnight. But here’s something else to keep in mind:
This year is the last year of the covid year. There will still be graduate transfers if a player gets injured/redshirted at any point, but there will be many fewer fifth-year transfers next season. Of the 47 transfers entering the Big East, 15 of them have played at least four years of college basketball. That’s 31.8%, most of whom would be out of eligibility had the covid year not happened.
This, to me, shows that significantly more emphasis will be put on player development and retention. We are discovering, through programs like Marquette, that this was always important, even if de-emphasized by some programs in the portal era. Without that same caliber of older, more experienced transfers, who will play large roles immediately (of those 15, I project at least nine to start), more emphasis will be put on developing the talent that you already have.
That said, some progress on the court, and on the recruiting trail is necessary to prove that you can continue to compete on this level.
Butler Will Play Wisconsin in Gainbridge Fieldhouse
It came out that Butler has scheduled a game against Wisconsin to be played in Gainbridge (formerly known as Bankers Life) Fieldhouse, in downtown Indianapolis.
I’ve seen some talk about this game being a “neutral site” for NET purposes, and that’s not true. Here’s a screenshot from the NCAA Rulebook on what qualifies a neutral-sited game.
This is a Butler Home Game.
Personally, I’ve watched enough college games in pro arenas in my day. They don’t feel the same. I love that intimate environment. Maybe this will carry a big game feel since Butler doesn’t often play in Gainbridge, but I don’t know if the environment will feel the same as a huge game in Hinkle.
Sure, I’d expect this game to have more people than a Georgetown home game in Capital One (of which I’ve been to many), and when the NBA arena gets loud, it does feel special. But there’s nothing like a game in Hinkle. Just one man's opinion, would love to hear what everyone else thinks here.
Kris Parker Update
The 6’8” Wing narrowed his list down to Florida State, Butler and West Virginia, and is closing in on a decision. West Virginia has seemingly filled their backcourt needs, and just has a couple of holes in the frontcourt to fill up, so they’re out. Parker’s visit to Morgantown, scheduled for weeks back, was also canceled.
Rumors have been for weeks that this is Butler’s to lose, but the longer this goes on, the more I think he ends up at Florida State. Has been a weird recruitment to this point, and I think we'll hear more fairly soon.
Their program has been through some rough seasons after Jonathan Isaac and Terrance Mann left, along with former Assistant Dennis Gates. Their NIL resources aren’t super high (if he doesn't come here it's not an NIL thing), but the PT and the fact that Parker is from Florida adds up. The longer this goes, the more likely I think Butler loses this recruitment.
Would love to be wrong here, of course.
Butler may have to move on, to fill their 12th roster spot, if they so choose.