Butler hiring former point guard Ronald Nored as its men's basketball coach

Butler is hiring a very familiar face to be its next men’s basketball coach.

According tomultiple reports, former player Ronald Nored will replace the retired Thad Matta. Nored, 36, played on the 2010 and 2011 Butler teams that made the Final Four under former coach and current Boston Celtics executive Brad Stevens.

After a one-year stint as a high school coach, Nored became an assistant for the Celtics’ G-League Maine Red Claws in 2013-14 as Stevens was the Celtics’ head coach. He’s worked his way up through the coaching ranks and served as an assistant for the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers before taking his current assistant coaching position with the Atlanta Hawks in 2023. 

Nored was a four-year starter at point guard for the Bulldogs from 2008-2012. He was an integral member of those two Final Four teams and averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 assists throughout his Butler career.

Nored’s final season at Butler was Stevens’ next-to-last season at the school before moving on to Boston. The Bulldogs have made the NCAA tournament four times since Stevens left, but haven’t been back to March Madness since 2018.

Matta announced his retirement a week ago after spending five seasons with the school. The longtime Ohio State coach got his first Division I head coaching job with the Bulldogs in 2000 and spent four years with the school in his second stint. 

Butler went 16-16 in 2025-26 and was 63-69 over the past four seasons.