INDIANAPOLIS — Austin Parkinson, who last month led the IUPUI to his NCAA debut, has been named as Butler’s women’s basketball coach.
It’s been an eventful week for Basketball Butler. Thad Matta was introduced on Wednesday as the new men’s coach.
“Austin has set himself apart from a strong group of candidates with his experience building a championship-caliber program at IUPUI and his vision of how Butler can achieve similar success in the Big East,” athletic director Barry Collier said Friday in announcing the Parkinson hire.
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During his 12 years at IUPUI, Parkinson’s set a record of 224-141. He inherited a 3-26 team when he took charge in 2010-11 and led IUPUI to the 20-12 record in his third season. He was an assistant coach at IUPUI for two seasons.
Parkinson, 40, is the three-time Conference Coach of the Year, once in the Summit League and twice in the Horizon League.
The Jaguars won 24-5 this season, won the Horizon League, won 15th over Iowa 74-73 and lost to 3rd seed Oklahoma 78-72 in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
IUPUI also won the Horizon 2020 tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, which was canceled due to the pandemic.
Parkinson succeeds Kurt Godlevsky, who was fired after the 1–27 season. The Bulldogs have lost their last 17 games.
“Everything is ready at Butler for our program to make noise in the Big East, and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead a Bulldog,” said Parkinson. “Butler is a prestigious university with a culture of rigor, discipline, and selflessness. Both campus and the city of Indianapolis offer student-athletes an amazing experience.”
He played in Bordeaux from 2000-04, closing his career in 10th place on the assists list for all-time Boilermakers. He has led the Big Ten in assist-to-turn ratio in each of his last three seasons.
He was the first Northwestern High School player to make the Indiana All-Stars and was inducted into the Howard County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He became the No. 2 Howard County scorer of all time behind ABA All-Star Jim “Goose” LeJun Kokomo.
During four seasons in high school, Parkinson’s teams were 77-17, winning one break and two breaks. He left school as a career leader in points (1667), assists (678) and steals (382).
Parkinson’s father, Bruce, is the all-time assistant captain of Purdue and a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. His grandfather, Jack, played in Kentucky and is a member of the famous Indiana and Kentucky basketball halls.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. To follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
