Recruiting Report: William Butler (2017)
During Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s Division III State Championship run, 6’0” guard William Butler (2017) established himself as a college basketball player. Butler’s recruitment was relatively quiet beforehand. Now, he’s being pursued by a number of Division II and III schools.
“I’m being recruited by several schools. I’m playing college basketball next year,” Butler said. He went on to list the schools who are currently interested, “Ohio Dominican, West Minster, Mount Union, Notre Dame College, Bluffton University, Baldwin Wallace, a number of D-III schools.”
“All these schools actually came after the tournament run. Except West Minster has been pushing me for a while, and so has Mount Union. The rest of these schools came after the tournament run,” Butler said.
While playing time and environmental fit are factors he’s also weighing, the first impressions of West Minster and Mount Union seem to have stuck out.
“Right now Mount Union and West Minster. Those are the schools that contact me the most and show the most interest in me. And Notre Dame and Ohio Dominican came on lately, recently after the State Tournament — I feel like they have a chance to move up,” Butler said, when asked about which schools he likes most.
Butler told PHO that all of the schools he’s listed would welcome him into their program and give him a roster spot. Currently, the VASJ prospect hasn’t received any scholarship offers.
There’s no timetable for the college decision, according to Butler.
The 3.0 GPA student-athlete, who also holds a 22 ACT score, will facilitate his decision-making process with three visits in the coming weeks. He’s also been to West Minster and Mount Union for campus visits previously.
“I visited Mount Union and West Minster and have tons of visits coming up in a few weeks. I have Bluffton, Ohio Dominican, Notre Dame. Going to be pretty busy,” Butler said.
"I don't need a coach to have confidence in me, I need a coach to have confidence in himself to play me" https://t.co/LCald8QdpS
— Will Butler (@_butler2) April 2, 2017
The timeline of Butler’s recruitment process not only shows that team success helps the individual pieces, it’s also a testament to how darn good Butler played in March.
In the three tournament games we saw Butler play in, he consistently made defense’s pay when they didn’t contest shots from beyond the arch. Also, once you start respecting his shot, Butler can get to the rim and finish in creative ways.
“I’m a very unique player. When I walk on the court, no one expects me to pass as good as I pass, shoot as good as I shoot, and be the ball-handler I am. I feel like I’m very good on offense,” Butler said.
While Butler does say he’s a good defender, there’s one aspect on that end he’s looking to improve in particularly.
“Half-court, I can guard the ball. But full-court, one on one it’s a little tough for me.”
Butler will surely continue to improve in college. At the moment, he’s a valuable weapon who can stretch the floor, at the very least. Butler will also be asked to handle the ball and can be used to guard various positions on defense.