2025-26 Season Recap:
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16-16 record, 7-13 in conference play
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Finished in 8th place in the Big East, tied with Marquette and Providence
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Lost to Providence 91-81 in the Big East Tournament (Opening Round)
Head Coach: Ronald Nored (replacing the retired Thad Matta)
Nored was a player under Brad Stevens during both of the National Title Game runs. Nored started every game as a freshman and senior. In the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons where the Bulldogs lost in the championship game, Nored was a starter for those tournament runs. His career averages were 5.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals. Nored was recently an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks under Quinn Snyder. The 36-year-old has been an NBA assistant coach since 2018.
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Departing players:
Michael Ajayi – Graduation (16.4 PPG)
Finley Bizjack – West Virginia (17.1 PPG)
Jamie Kaiser Jr. – Richmond (9.5 PPG)
Yohan Traore – Graduation (8.3 PPG)
Evan Haywood – Pepperdine (7.2 PPG)
Yame Butler – Graduation – (4.2 PPG)
Jackson Keith – Davidson (2.0 PPG)
Jack McCaffery – Richmond (2.8 PPG)
Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor – George Mason (5.0 PPG)
Azavier Robinson – UCLA (6.1 PPG)
Returning Players:
Bryson Cardinal – 6’7” freshman who redshirted in 2025-26. Notedly the son of the janitor, Brian Cardinal. Local product who was unranked as a senior.
Jalen Jackson – 6’2” senior who only played in six games due to injury. Jackson was the starting point guard. He averaged 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 51.2% shooting. His presence helped Butler get off to a 5-1 start, including a win against Virginia.
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Drayton Jones – 6’11” senior who averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Jones started all 32 contests.
Ethan McComb – 6’1” senior who plays sparingly and has scored 15 points in his career.
Kevin Ndzie – 7’1” junior who redshirted in 2025-26. Ndzie played professionally the two years prior and has two years of eligibility remaining.
New Players:
Samu Adler – 6’6” freshman from Espoo, Finland. Adler played in the top league in Finland for the previous two years, winning the 2025-26 Player of the Year and 2026 Finals MVP. Adler averaged 16.3 points per game over the course of the season and playoffs, shooting 34% from three-point range.
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Treyson Anderson – 6’9” junior transfer from North Dakota State. Anderson averaged 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 35.8% from three.
Herly Brutus – 6’7” freshman from Eustis, Florida. Brutus was ranked as a four-star recruit on 247Sports and 130th nationally. He initially signed with LSU, but was released from his letter of intent after the firing of Matt McMahon.
Samis Calderon – 6’8” sophomore transfer from Kansas. Calderon was ranked 84th nationally by 247Sports as a high school senior, but played sparingly as a freshman with the Jayhawks. Calderon scored six points on the year 65 minutes played.
Asim Djulovic – 6’8” freshman from Novi Pazar, Serbia. He played for Mega Superbet in the AdmiralBet ABA League, averaging 12.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Dulovic is 20-years old.
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Jordan Ellerbee – 6’3” sophomore transfer from Florida Gulf Coast. Ellerbee averaged 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Eagles, shooting 46.7% from the floor and 35.3% from three.
Eduardo Klafke – 6’5” junior transfer from Ole Miss. Klafke averaged 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds on 42.6% from three. He is shooting 44.6% from deep over the course of his career thus far.
Marko Maric – 7’ freshman from Zagreb, Croatia. Maric played for the top team in Novi Zagreb in the Croatian Prva Liga, averaging 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Maric also shot the three at 37%.
Christian Moore – 6’6” graduate transfer from The Citadel. Moore averaged 11.2 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Bulldogs while shooting 38.7% from three. Now he will play for a different Bulldog.
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Baron Walker – 6’3” freshman from Noblesville, Indiana. Walker is a combo guard who is unranked by 247Sports.
Overall thoughts:
Coach Nored was able to bring in a combination of transfers, international signings and freshmen while retaining two starters from a year ago. Jackson and Jones again project to start in 2026-27, but who joins them on the wings?
The options seem to include:
Klafke, who started 12 games for Ole Miss and provides elite floor spacing.
Anderson, who was a starter for a tournament team and provides spacing as a four.
Djulovic, who comes over as a proven 20-year-old pro with a versatile skillset.
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Ellerbee, who had a very good freshman season and is looking to make the jump.
My personal guess would be that Ellerbee comes off of the bench, as Butler doesn’t seem to have any other viable backup point guards. The shooting around Jackson and Jones would also be welcomed, as Jones has never made a three and Jackson is 33.2% for his career. Regardless, Nored should feel pretty good about his top six in the rotation. After that, there’s a number of unknowns between the freshman Brutus, redshirt Ndzie, 18-year-old international players and unproven transfers. Moore projects to be a shooter off of the bench, but it’s unknown how his game will otherwise translate from The Citadel.
Given the overall question marks and inexperience throughout half the roster, it’s hard to project Butler to be more than they were a year ago in an improved Big East. They’re likely to be picked at or near the bottom by the coaches when the time comes. The depth seems to be better than it was a year ago, but missing two of the leading scorers in the conference will hurt. In order to exceed expectations, the Bulldogs whole will need to be greater than the sum of its parts.
