NBLC Alumni: Isaac Butts

6'10

Forward

From Milledgeville, Georgia

Tenure: 2012-13

2013 Rookie of the Year

1x All-NBLC

1x All-Defensive Team

Basketball is a serious business to Isaac Butts, a player who gives it his all every time he steps onto a court. He brings all of his intensity, strength and vision to every outfit he plays for and when bringing his talents to the NBL Canada, earned a deserved reputation as a double-double machine.

As a teenager at Georgia Military Prep, Butts was a multi-talented athlete, competing in football and athletics as well as basketball. Averaging double-doubles in junior and senior years, and earning the MVP award of the Georgia Classic game, it became clear hooping was the way to go for the young prospect.

In 2007, he accepted a place with the Appalachian State Mountaineers, an NCAA Division 1 outfit based in Boone, North Carolina. He played only 8.6 minutes per game as a freshman before being promoted to starting power forward the following season. He started every game as a sophomore, led the team with 59.% field shooting and was third in the SoCon for double-doubles in the season, with nine to his name.

Junior year, Butts led Appalachian State in rebounds with 8.5 boards per game, before being sidelined by a knee injury. He finished his NCAA career with an average 7.6 points in 28 senior year games for the Mountaineers and left the team in their all-time top ten for rebounds and assists.

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He turned professional in 2012 and made his debut in the NBL Canada with the Moncton Miracles. He impressed immediately with double-doubles in his first three regular season games. It would be his calling card in the 2012-13 season; recording six in a row in his last half-dozen regular season games, he finished with a total sixteen double-doubles in the season.

Butts' two highlight games on the season were his 27-point, 20-rebound performance against the Montreal Jazz on January 17th, 2013, and 23 points and 20 total boards recorded against the Halifax Rainmen on February 25th. For all his efforts, he was named the Rookie of the Year and earned spots on the All-NBLC and All-Defensive teams as well as two player of the week awards.

Moncton qualified for the 2013 post-season, winning in three games against Saint John in the play-in series, but went on to lose 3-1 against first-seeded London Lightning in the semi-finals.

From there, Butts went to play in Germany for Sacha Vesta before making a more permanent home in Japan. In the 2014-15 season he played 52 games for the Nishinomiya Storks, averaging a double-double 17.1 points and 15.2 rebounds. He then played four straight seasons with the Aishin Sea Horses before moving, in 2019, to the Toyoma Grouses.

So far it was just the one season in Canada for Isaac Butts, but it was one leaving fans wanting more. His defensive game and relentless offence made him a regular one to watch and a valued member of the Moncton Miracles squad. He was as valuable to his subsequent teams in Japan, but had he played out more of his career in the NBLC, he may well have gone down as one of its best-ever defensive players.