Former Tiger great Mike Butler passes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Former University of Memphis basketball great Mike Butler, one of the top shooting guards in the school's history and a 1987 inductee to the M Club Hall of Fame, died Sunday. He was 72.

As a hometown product, Butler was a popular player for the Tigers in the 1960s while competing first for coach Dean Ehlers and later Moe Iba. During the 1966-67 season – Iba's first -- Butler helped the Tigers to a 17-9 finish, including a trip to the National Invitation Tournament to play Providence. He also played professionally in the American Basketball Association.

When he retired from professional basketball, Butler worked in the transportation and distribution business.

A native of Memphis, and a graduate of Kingsbury High School, Butler came to then-Memphis State in the fall of 1964. After spending one season playing for the freshman team – when freshman were not eligible to participate on the varsity -- Butler became an immediate starter for the varsity and a star. He played in 25 games during the 1965-66 season and averaged 19.2 points per game.

An accurate free throw shooter, Butler connected on 86.4 percent of his free throws (114 of 132) as a sophomore, a percentage that ranks as the second-highest single-season mark in program history. He also ranks third (85.9 percent in 1966-67) and seventh (84.1 in 1967-68). Overall, his career free throw percentage of 85.5 remains the best in school history.

As a junior, he averaged 17.1 points to lead the team to the postseason NIT event in New York. As a senior, he led the team in scoring for the third-straight season, averaging a career-best 19.4 points per game.

Butler's career scoring average of 18.5 points per game ranks eighth in school history.

For his career, Butler scored 1,409 points. His 17 field goals made against Xavier rank as the second highest total in school history.

Before coming to Memphis State, Butler set a Shelby Metro high school record with 1,976 points. After graduation from college, he was selected in both the NBA and ABA drafts.

He was selected in the 1968 NBA draft by the San Diego Rockets and later in the ABA draft by the San Diego Conquistadors. He played four seasons in the ABA with the New Orleans Buccaneers and the Utah Stars, where he helped guide the franchise to an ABA title in 1971.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 at Peebles West Funeral Chapel in Oakland, Tenn.. A visitation for Butler will be from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. before the memorial service.

University of Memphis Athletics

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