“Around the Big East” Season Preview: Butler Bulldogs

2025-26 Season Recap:

16-16 record, 7-13 in conference play

Finished in 8th place in the Big East, tied with Marquette and Providence

Lost to Providence 91-81 in the Big East Tournament (Opening Round)

Head Coach: Ronald Nored (replacing the retired Thad Matta)

Nored was a player under Brad Stevens during both of the National Title Game runs. Nored started every game as a freshman and senior. In the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons where the Bulldogs lost in the championship game, Nored was a starter for those tournament runs. His career averages were 5.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals. Nored was recently an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks under Quinn Snyder. The 36-year-old has been an NBA assistant coach since 2018.

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Departing players:

Michael Ajayi – Graduation (16.4 PPG)

Finley Bizjack – West Virginia (17.1 PPG)

Jamie Kaiser Jr. – Richmond (9.5 PPG)

Yohan Traore – Graduation (8.3 PPG)

Evan Haywood – Pepperdine (7.2 PPG)

Yame Butler – Graduation – (4.2 PPG)

Jackson Keith – Davidson (2.0 PPG)

Jack McCaffery – Richmond (2.8 PPG)

Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor – George Mason (5.0 PPG)

Azavier Robinson – UCLA (6.1 PPG)

Returning Players:

Bryson Cardinal – 6’7” freshman who redshirted in 2025-26. Notedly the son of the janitor, Brian Cardinal. Local product who was unranked as a senior.

Jalen Jackson – 6’2” senior who only played in six games due to injury. Jackson was the starting point guard. He averaged 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 51.2% shooting. His presence helped Butler get off to a 5-1 start, including a win against Virginia.

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Drayton Jones – 6’11” senior who averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Jones started all 32 contests.

Ethan McComb – 6’1” senior who plays sparingly and has scored 15 points in his career.

Kevin Ndzie – 7’1” junior who redshirted in 2025-26. Ndzie played professionally the two years prior and has two years of eligibility remaining.

New Players:

Samu…

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Publish date : 2026-06-19 15:00:00

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