September 22, 2023 

Love and support surround Tasha Butts as she takes time away from Hoyas

Georgetown associate head coach Darnell Haney will assume head coaching responsibilities

Georgetown women’s basketball head coach Tasha Butts will take time away from the team to focus on an ongoing battle against breast cancer, the school announced on Thursday.

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Butts was hired by Georgetown on April 11, 2023. Her hiring followed assistant coach stints at Duquesne (2007-08), UCLA (2008-11) and LSU (2011-19), and an associate head coach position at Georgia Tech (2019-23). From 2000-04, she played college basketball for Tennessee under legendary head coach Pat Summitt.


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“Since her hiring in April, Tasha has proven to be a coach full of passion and drive,” said Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed. “As she battles this terrible disease, she continues to be an inspiration to our student-athletes, coaches and staff, and we will support her in this fight. Her community stretches from coast-to-coast, and I know that now, more than ever, we will band together to be Tasha Tough.”

Butts was diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer on Nov. 15, 2021. Since that time, she has used her battle against breast cancer to raise awareness. Her Tasha Tough campaign through the Kay Yow Cancer Fund helped to bring quality care to women who needed support to pay for treatment.

“I know the bills that I pull out of my mailbox and how I feel when I get them,” Butts said of her campaign. “I can only imagine if you’re a woman battling breast cancer and you don’t have the resources that I’ve been afforded, how are you going to battle this disease?”

In her absence, Georgetown associate head coach Darnell Haney will assume head coaching responsibilities. Hired in May, Haney comes to Washington, D.C. following five seasons as head coach at Jacksonville University. Prior to his time as head coach at Jacksonville, he served as an assistant to Jacksonville then-head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin before she took over the Mississippi program.

Written by Tee Baker

Tee has been a contributor to The Next since March Madness 2021 and is currently a contributing editor, BIG EAST beat reporter and curator of historical deep dives.

1 Comment

  1. YVONNE VASSER on September 22, 2023 at 2:12 pm

    PRAYING FOR YOU CUZ. STAY STRONG THIS TOO SHALL PASS. LOVE YOU

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