This year has been hard for the basketball community as many budding stars lost their lives due to unfortunate circumstances. Tasha Butts, a profound basketball coach recently lost her life to a common yet treacherous disease. While she served as an assistant coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage.
Through her struggles, Butts helped the Yellow Jackets triumph over all odds. Despite going through treatment and the struggles that came with it, she helped the Yellow Jackets earn an NCAA berth in 2021. “Tasha was so instrumental to the success of this program. What she did as a member of this coaching staff cannot be overvalued,” said Nell Fortner, the Yellow Jackets’ head coach.
Our hearts are heavy as we learn of the passing of Tasha Butts.
A beloved member of the basketball community, Tasha was drafted 20th overall in 2004 by the Minnesota Lynx after a legendary career at Tennessee, and was continuing her legacy as a renowned coach at the college… pic.twitter.com/DFK7GaJ3hW
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 23, 2023
Most of her associates spoke very highly of her. Tasha had a character that knew when to be strict and when to be soft. “Tasha was a great player and went on to have a successful career as a coach too. More importantly, she had an impact on so many lives throughout her lifetime. We are sad to lose her at such a young age,” said LSU’s Kim Mulkey, a former associate.
Butts is survived by her family members. Her parents, Spencer Sr. and Evelyn were beside her along with her brother Spencer Jr. and Marquis, her nephew.
Tasha Butts briefly competed in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx
Tasha Butts was born in Milledgeville, Georgia and she attended Baldwin High School. She began her journey in basketball at a very young age, earning the title of Girls Basketball Player of the Year in 2000. The talented young girl ended up committing to the University of Tennessee. After a successful stint with the Tennessee Volunteers, she declared for the 2004 WNBA draft.
LSU mourns the loss of Tasha Butts.
Butts was an assistant coach at LSU from 2011-19 and was the current head coach at Georgetown.#TashaTough
📄 https://t.co/9YzkZ0CKio pic.twitter.com/KwDkJDVkoY
— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) October 23, 2023
Tasha Butts was selected No.20 overall by the Minnesota Lynx, a team that was dominating the league at the time. Between 2004 and 2008, Butts did not participate on the court even though she was signed to a couple of teams in the league. That’s when she decided to return to Tennessee as a graduate assistant. Between 2008 and 2019, she worked as an assistant coach at Duquesne, UCLA, and LSU. In 2019, she arrived at Georgia Tech.
In 2023, the Georgetown Hoyas Women’s Basketball team announced that Tasha was their newly appointed head coach.