Tasha Butts, who played for Lady Vols, gets first head coaching job with Georgetown basketball

Tasha Butts has been named the coach for Georgetown women's basketball, the program announced Tuesday.

The former Lady Vols basketball player spent the last four seasons on the staff at Georgia Tech, first as an assistant and then associate head coach.

Butts replaces James Howard, whose contract was not renewed after failing to record a winning season in four years at Georgetown. This will be Butts' first head coaching position after holding assistant coaching positions since 2007.

"I am absolutely honored to be the head coach for Georgetown women's basketball," Butts said in a school release. "It has always been a dream of mine and to be awarded this opportunity to coach at such a prestigious institution, it is beyond any words. I'm elated that I will have the opportunity to mentor, develop and coach these young women. I look forward to working with the entire Georgetown administration, staff and, most importantly, getting involved in our community. I am super excited about this new journey, it's going to be an amazing ride and we will do this together."

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Butts played for the legendary Pat Summitt at Tennessee from 2000-04, a run in which the team posted a 124-17 record. After a Sweet 16 in her freshman season, Butts helped lead Tennessee to the Final Four in 2002 and back-to-back NCAA Championship appearances in 2003 and 2004. She was part of four SEC regular-season championship teams, only losing one SEC game during her career.

Butts was selected by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2004 WNBA Draft. Her professional career included stints overseas with the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets.

She got her start in coaching at her alma mater as a grad assistant for Summitt during the 2004-05 season. Her first assistant coaching job was at Duquesne, and then she spent three years at UCLA and eight years at LSU as an assistant to Nikki Fargas. Butts was part of four 20-win seasons and six NCAA Tournament appearances at LSU, highlighted by back-to-back Sweet 16 runs in 2012 and 2013.

In December of 2021, Butts announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said at the time the news of Butts' diagnosis was a "gut punch." The two players missed playing with each other by one season, with Butts entering the program the year after Harper graduated.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Former Lady Vols guard Tasha Butts named Georgetown basketball coach