INDIANAPOLIS — Barry Collier, the former Butler University men's basketball coach and current athletic director credited for the program's rise to prominence, announced his retirement Wednesday, effective April 30, 2023.
Collier, a Butler graduate who has led the university's athletic department since August 2006, coached the team from 1989-2000, tallying the second-most wins in program history.
During his tenure as head coach, Collier led the Bulldogs to a 196-132 record and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the school's first in 35 years.
Collier left to coach at the University of Nebraska for six seasons before returning to Butler in 2006.
As athletic director, he oversaw the university's transition to the Big East and the men's basketball team's Cinderella runs to the NCAA Final Four in 2010 and 2011.
Butler said Collier released this message to the university community Wednesday morning:
Dear Butler Community:
After more than fifty years in collegiate athletics, thirty-one as a member of the Butler family, and, after much thought and prayer, I have decided to retire, effective April 30, 2024. I look forward to spending more time with my loving wife, Annette, and our growing family and friends.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities afforded me as a student-athlete, coach, and director of athletics and for the many wonderful relationships that I have built along the way. While it has been my privilege to be a member of teams at eight different institutions, Butler is the place that I have always called home.
When I first stepped onto Butler’s campus in the fall of 1974, I immediately felt at home. I loved my time in a Bulldog uniform and competing in Hinkle Fieldhouse. While my coaching career took me around the country for years, my heart was never too far from Indianapolis. In 1989, the opportunity to lead the Butler Bulldog men’s basketball program was the fruition of a dream, and my eleven years on the bench were memorable. To be able to return to Butler in 2006 to lead the Department of Athletics has been the icing on the cake.
It has been my honor to be a part of the Butler Family, to proudly wear the blue and white uniform, then to recruit and mentor tremendous young men as the men’s basketball coach, and to have them remain a part of my life; and to lead an athletics department of incredibly talented professionals who work each and every day on behalf of our student-athletes. I am also very thankful for the support of our trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and donors.
I have pledged to President Danko my assistance in any way that he requests through the transition, and I have offered to continue to help the University in any possible way in the years ahead. I will always be a proud Bulldog.
Thank you and Go Dawgs!
Sincerely,
Barry Collier