Butler boys basketball is thirsty, and here’s proof.
Three weeks after a 47-42 loss to Class AA state runner up Toombs County in the Final Four, Chaz Clark and his returning players went back to work.
“We started on March 25th,” Clark said. “This point of the off-season, we’re focusing heavy on strength and conditioning and skill development.”
It was part of Clark’s plan, according to the comments he made about his team after the Toombs County defeat.
“I told all the returners, juniors on down, we’re not gonna [allow] them to forget about [the loss],” Clark said. “No. We’re going to hold on to this, so that in a couple of weeks when we get back to offseason work, you’re in the weight room, you’re on the track, you’re shooting in the gym, you’re practicing your ball handling, you’re also going to be holding on to this feeling.”
But that’s not the best part. The best part is what happened when Clark tried to give his team a week off.
“I gave the guys spring break off, but I had a group of sophomores and freshmen who decided they still wanted to work even after just finishing an AAU tournament on Sunday,” Clark said. “They’ve been in the gym and in the weight room over the first four days of spring break. Even putting in six-hour days, between working with us and training and practicing with their AAU programs. I’ve been extremely proud of that.”
It’s the latest sign that there will likely be little, if any, drop off from the program Clark’s predecessor, Cervantes Boddy spent more than a decade building. Though Boddy never completely reached the promised land during his tenure, he coached his team to play for it all several times — the first time coming in his very first season when the Bulldogs fell to Columbia 56-37 in the Class AAA final back in 2011.
Boddy’s Butler squad also played for a state championship when it met Westside back in 2022. That’s when Westside won the first of its three straight Class AA state championships.
Clark, who’s made no bones about wanting to follow closely in his predecessor and coaching mentor’s footsteps, almost did just that this past season. And many believe, had Butler been able to get past Toombs County, the Bulldogs from Augusta would’ve given Westside a much stiffer challenge than the Bulldogs from Lyons.
Westside easily dispatched Toombs County, 64-29 in the Class AA final. As for the Westside-Butler matchup? The Bulldogs and Patriots split their four matchups with each game being hard fought and closely contest.
Now that Westside’s moving on to Class AAA, a Butler squad that only graduated two seniors in Roosevelt Brown (15 ppg) and Willie Taylor (8 ppg) has to feel like they should be a Class AA state championship favorite heading into next year.
At least, Clark says, that’s how they’re preparing.
“The boys are starting to take pride in our blue collar culture,” Clark said. “They are starting to understand why the offseason is the most important part of the season.”
Though Brown, the team’s high scorer from last season, is departing, players like rising junior Kwamane Bridges and rising seniors Jayden Bell and Marcus Scurry, Jr., should help make sure Butler picks up next season where it left off last season — provided everyone comes back to the team in this more transfer-happy era of high school basketball.
“Yes, so far it doesn’t seem that I’m losing anybody to the ‘Portal,’” Clark quipped.
If he doesn’t, Butler will likely be favored in a retooled Region 4-AA, following GHSA reclassification, that includes Burke County, Glenn Hills, Josey, Laney and Thomson. Burke County finished its last season in Class AAAA with a 19-8 record and a first round state playoff loss to Spalding. Thomson finished with a 22-4 record and was runner up to Westside for the Region 4-AA title.
Laney, Josey and Glenn Hills combined for a 15-58 record with Glenn Hills going winless and only Laney making it to the state tournament, falling 50-47 to Sumter County in the first round.
But Clark isn’t having many championship conversations of any kind with his team right now. There’s a bigger picture he’s after.
“As a program we are moving towards being more process-focused over product-focused,” Clark said. “Being more journey-focused over destination-focused. Honestly, instead of a ‘championship or bust’ mentality, I hope we are developing a ‘work to get better everyday or bust’ mentality. ‘Give it my all in the classroom or bust’ mentality. ‘Be a good person even when it’s hard or bust’ mentality. And if we can continue to develop those mentalities, let’s see where it takes us.”
