Butler has hired Austin Parkinson, the all-time winningest coach in IUPUI history and fresh off an appearance in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, to lead the women’s basketball program.
Vice President/Director of Athletics Barry Collier made the announcement Friday, April 8.
**The Butler community is invited to welcome Parkinson on Tuesday, April 12 at 1:30 p.m. The event will take place in the Wildman Room at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Media members are also invited.**
In his 12 seasons leading the Jaguars program, Parkinson posted a record of 224-141. Parkinson’s Jaguars earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance by winning the 2022 Horizon League Tournament. IUPUI had a record of 24-5, including a win over nationally-ranked Iowa. It was Parkinson’s eighth 20-win campaign. IUPUI also won the 2020 Horizon League Tournament and earned a berth in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, which was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Austin set himself apart from a strong pool of candidates with his experience building a championship-caliber program at IUPUI and his vision for how Butler will achieve similar success within the BIG EAST,” said Collier. “Austin is a strong leader and proven winner who shares the values of our university. We are thrilled for Austin, Whittney and their children to travel these short five miles to join the Butler Family.”
“Everything is in place at Butler for our program to make noise in the BIG EAST and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Bulldogs,” said Parkinson. “Butler is an elite university with a culture of toughness, discipline and selflessness. Both the campus and the city of Indianapolis offer the student-athletes an incredible experience. My family and I are excited to become part of the Butler community and look forward to building relationships like we were able to at IUPUI with so many great Jaguars, including all my players over the years, who played such a large role in our success.”
“Austin has built the IUPUI women’s basketball program into a perennial winner and we are confident that he can do the same here at Butler,” said James Danko, Butler University President. “I want to thank Barry Collier and his leadership team for their work in identifying a coach with both a strong résumé and values-based approach that mirrors that of Butler University. Our community is excited to welcome Austin and his family to campus.”
During the 2021-22 season, Parkinson saw graduate student Macee Williams earn AP All-American Honorable Mention honors and win Horizon League Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Williams was also one of five student-athletes nationally to be named to the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award First Team.
Parkinson inherited a three-win team when he took over as the head coach days prior to the start of the 2010-11 campaign. In his third season, Parkinson’s Jaguars posted a 20-win season. Six times he led IUPUI to the WNIT in addition to the two NCAA Tournament berths. Parkinson has been selected by his peers as the conference Coach of the Year three times – once in the Summit League and twice in the Horizon League.
Prior to leading the women’s basketball program, Parkinson served as an assistant coach of the IUPUI men’s basketball staff for two seasons.
Parkinson was a four-year letterwinner at Purdue from 2000-04 and closed his career tied for tenth on the Boilermakers’ all-time assist list. Additionally, he led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of his final three seasons. He received both his B.S. (’04) and Masters (’06) from Purdue in Organizational Leadership and Supervision.
Parkinson comes from impressive basketball pedigree as his father, Bruce, is Purdue’s all-time assist leader and a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. His grandfather, Jack, played at Kentucky and is a member of both the Indiana and Kentucky Basketball Halls of Fame.
Parkinson and his wife Whittney are the proud parents of Wren and Pearce.
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