Georgetown Women’s Basketball Coach Tasha Butts Dead at 41 After Breast Cancer
The former Tennessee and WNBA player led the Hoyas to victory: “A devastating loss”
Cal Sport Media via AP
Georgia Tech Associate Head Coach, Tasha Butts, discusses her own battle with breast cancer during the NCAA women's basketball game featuring the Pitt Panthers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, played at McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia.Tasha Butts, the head coach of the Georgetown women’s basketball team, died from breast cancer at the age of 41, the school announced Monday.
Butts was diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer in 2021 and left her coaching position at Georgetown last month, Georgetown University Athletics said on their website.
"I am heartbroken for Tasha's family, friends, players, teammates and colleagues," Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed said in a statement posted on the website. "When I met Tasha, I knew she was a winner on the court, and an incredible person whose drive, passion and determination was second to none. She exhibited these qualities both as a leader and in her fight against breast cancer.”
AP Photo/Bill Feig
LSU's Theresa Plaisance (55) walks past then-LSU assistant coach Tasha Butts as she celebrates the team's win over Kentucky with guard Jeanne Kenney after an NCAA college basketball game in Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 24, 2013."Tasha's passing is a devastating loss,” university President John J. DeGioia added. “She was extraordinary — Tasha was a person of character, determination, vision, and kindness. She will be deeply missed by our community and by so many people around the country who have been inspired by her life. We offer her family our most sincere condolences.”
"We will be strong and stay #TashaTough," the university captioned a post on social media, alongside several photos of the basketball coach.
Her condition sparked the Tasha Tough campaign, which has increased awareness and raised funds to provide quality care for women lacking the means through the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, according to the website.
The Georgia native joined the Hoyas as head coach in April after working as associate head coach at Georgia Tech, Sports Illustrated reported.
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When Butts replaced James Howard as head coach, she said she was "super excited about this new journey,” per ESPN.
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At Georgia Tech, she became an assistant coach in April 2019 and was promoted in April in 2022, helping the team reach the NCAA tournament two years in a row, per Sports Illustrated.
Before Georgetown, Butts also worked as an assistant coach at LSU, UCLA and Duquesne. She competed at Tennessee before being drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the second round of the 2004 WNBA draft, playing professionally for one year, per the outlet.
"The news of Tasha's passing is incredibly sad," Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner said Monday, per ESPN. "Tasha was so instrumental to the success of this program. What she did as a member of this coaching staff cannot be undervalued. She was tough — tough on her kids, tough in her expectations, but yet she was soft underneath when players needed her to be there for them, and she was always there for them.”
According to the Georgetown University Athletics website, Butts is survived by parents Spencer Sr. and Evelyn, brother Spencer Jr. and nephew Marquis, “along with an extended family and the entire women's basketball community.”
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