Charlotte 49ers are relying on ‘the old guy’ to get them back to first place
Austin Butler is the loudest player on the court.
Calling out screens, echoing the play-call and celebrating teammates’ success. Wednesday night, he celebrated his own.
It was Butler’s defense that sealed the 49ers’ victory, blocking the Old Dominion’s in-bounds pass and forcing the game’s final turnover with 10 seconds to play.
The Charlotte 49ers (11-7, 4-2 C-USA) battled back from a 13-point deficit against Old Dominion, utilizing a second-half surge to win their sixth straight home game, 71-67.
Following over a month without fans, Butler welcomed the 49er faithful back to Halton Arena with a quick-trigger 3-pointer just 30 seconds into the action.
After struggling with the deep ball through Charlotte’s first 15 games (26 percent), Butler has shot 77 percent from beyond the arc over the previous three games, leading the 49ers in scoring four times this season. He had 12 points Wednesday, his 10th time in the last 12 games to reach double figures.
But even when his shots aren’t falling, it’s the intangibles that have solidified Butler’s presence on the team – the “Swiss Army Knife”, or, as he would call it, “the old guy.”
“Being in an atmosphere like this and being the old guy who can bring it every day and show the young guys what it takes, that’s what I try to do,” Butler said. “In high school, I played football and basketball, so I’ve always had that toughness part to my game. At my high school I was coached to get on the floor, take chares and get on the offensive glass. I think that’s stuck with me the most, just being a physical player.”
The 6-foot-5 senior leads the 49ers in rebounds, averaging 6.5 per game. He has 30 offensive rebounds this season, not far off from doubling starting center Aly Khalifa’s total (19).
Butler brings his own personality to the do-it-all title, and while he’s known around the locker room as a vocal leader on and off the court, it’s not without his sense of humor to lighten the mood.
“The season can be draining whether you’re playing 30 minutes a night or none,” Butler said. “It can be a long season mentally. In terms of road trips and practice, you want to make it an atmosphere where everyone wants to come into and enjoy. You’ve got to have a little fun with it, too, and being an older guy and going through four years, I’ve learned to turn it on and off when I need to. It’s just showing the young guys they can kind of have fun with it.”
Before Charlotte, Butler spent four years at Holy Cross in the Patriot League to help establish himself as a leader. He started all but nine games in four seasons with the Crusaders, and in 2020-21, led the team in rebounds (8.8), field goal percentage (49.5), 3-point percentage (45.8), minutes (33.6 mpg) and steals (1.6), all while scoring a career-high 16 points per game.
Holy Cross does not offer graduate school, and with Butler already achieving his bachelor’s degree, he had to enter the transfer portal in order to keep playing. His move to Charlotte was a major change, especially in city with a population (around 850,000) more over 100 times greater than his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania (8,000).
“It’s a lot different coming to a school with nearly 30,000 students,” Butler said. “I’m not on campus as much as I would be if I was an undergraduate, and I think I might enjoy it more with everything going on if I was. But being in a bigger area like this after coming from such a small town and a smaller school like Holy Cross has been enjoyable.”
University City will be a one-and-done experience for Butler, and there’s just 12 guaranteed games left in his collegiate career. But as Charlotte’s new faces have found their roles, Butler believes the chemistry has been established.
“As far as knowing and trusting each other, I think we’re 100 percent there,” Butler said. “The trust is there, but obviously on the defensive end we’ve got to continue knowing who we are as a unit. With 12 games left, we’ve just got to keep going.”
Following Wednesday’s victory, the 49ers are tied with Florida Atlantic atop C-USA’s East Division and have two more wins than they had all of last season, positioning themselves for a first-round bye in the C-USA Tournament in March.
Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez praised Butler’s experience following the win, and how valuable it can be in clutch moments like Wednesday night.
“The beauty about having these upperclassmen is that they’ve been in big settings and in tough environments,” Sanchez said. “You can’t speed up experience. All that experience is, is having made mistakes in the past. Being a senior, you’ve learned. But this is a collective group. We’re going to keep coaching them hard, and keep marching forward.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 6:00 AM.