Tasha Butts was a former WNBA player who had recently been named the head coach of Georgetown University’s women’s basketball team.
- Died: October 22, 2023 (Who else died on October 22?)
- Details of death: Died of complications from breast cancer at the age of 41.
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Tasha Butts’ legacy
Butts was a standout basketball player at the University of Tennessee in the early 2000s, when the Lady Volunteers had several powerhouse seasons under the leadership of Coach Pat Summitt (1952–2016). Butts and the Lady Vols made it to the NCAA championship game in 2003 and 2004. After graduating in 2004, Butts was selected in the WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. She played a single season for the team before beginning her coaching career.
Butts had largely worked as an assistant coach before her recent appointment, beginning at Duquesne University. She moved on to UCLA and LSU before being hired at Georgia Tech in 2019, where she was first an assistant coach and was later named head coach. Butts was hired by Georgetown as head coach just six months before her death, and her team had not yet played a game before her death.
After her breast cancer diagnosis, Butts spoke out about the financial challenges faced by many people who are fighting cancer. She worked with Georgia Tech and the Play4Kay initiative to raise tens of thousands of dollars for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to help women with breast cancer.
Notable quote
“I know the bills that I pull out of my mailbox and how I feel when I get them. I can only imagine if you’re a woman battling breast cancer and you don’t have the resources that I’ve been afforded, how are you going to battle this disease?” —from a 2022 interview for ESPN
Tributes to Tasha Butts
Full obituary: The Washington Post
