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In talking to a veteran high school basketball coach the other day, I mentioned that Larry Butler, the longtime head coach of the Illinois Warriors' AAU basketball program, no longer was employed by Nike. Depending on your source, he was either fired or resigned. Now Mac Irvin of the Chicago Fire and Tai Streets of MeanStreets are Nike's representatives in Chicago.
"You made my day," the coach said.
Butler was employed by Nike for 13 years. He built one of the strongest AAU programs in the country. He helped to produce 19 NBA players, two Olympians and 11 assistant college coaches. The list includes Andre Iguodala, Jon Scheyer and Jerrance Howard.
He claimed his decision to leave was based on the fact that he no longer was on the same page with Nike's new management. When Nike asked him to co-exist with his rival AAU coaches, Irvin and Streets, he said he couldn't and wouldn't. So Nike severed their longtime relationship.
There is no in-between with Butler. You either love him or hate him. Some players credit him for their success in college or the NBA. Others claim he manipulated them. Some parents claim Butler is the reason their sons received a college education. Others claim their sons were the victims of broken promises. Some high school coaches say he has helped to develop their players. Others say he couldn't teach them how to boil water. Some college coaches insist he has been a boon to youth basketball. Others argue he only uses his kids to put money in his pocket.
"Butler was a snake," said Streets, the former NFL player who has sponsored the MeanStreets program in Harvey for the last eight years.
There is no doubt that Butler works the room as well as any used car salesman. There was a time when Illinois coach Lon Kruger allowed him to sit in his reserved seats at the state tournament in Peoria. Then Butler had a cozy relationship with Marquette. Lately, he has been more than friendly with Kansas.
Former Westinghouse and Homewood-Flossmoor coach Roy Condotti has nothing good to say about how he perceived Butler's relationship with former H-F star Julian Wright, who went on to Kansas and the NBA.
Streets, by all accounts, does things the right way. His program is what the AAU is supposed to be all about. Its mission is to help kids from seventh to eleventh grade, especially those in the inner city and south suburbs where opportunities are fewer, to get to college, to become better citizens and to learn the game of basketball.
"I'm not trying to make a dollar off a kid," said Streets, who graduated from Thornton after transferring from Rich South. "Ninety-five percent of our kids, about 60 each year, go to college. You have to be able to perform in the classroom in order to play on my team.
"Sure, you want to attract the top players. But it's more important to turn the kids into better persons, to help them learn discipline, to get them to college and to help them to be successful after college, after basketball is over. You shouldn't have to offer a pair of basketball shoes to get a kid to play in your program."
Where did the AAU go wrong? Is it all about the shoe companies? Ego-driven players? Greedy coaches? Overzealous parents? All of the above, Streets said.
"People got into the AAU program for the wrong reasons," he said. "Coaches are trying to make money off the kids. They aren't teaching them. That's why the European players are doing better than us. In a majority of AAU programs, no instruction is being done. They just let them run up and down the floor and book trips to tournaments in Las Vegas or Orlando or Atlanta or Myrtle Beach.
"It is frustrating to coach in the AAU today. Parents are unrealistic. Kids leave my squad because I'm too hard on them. Parents only want you to praise their kids. You tell them that 99 percent of all kids will never play in the NBA and they don't believe you. The AAU needs standup people in the program to do things the way they should be done."
Streets said Butler simply thought he was bigger than Nike. He said he never had a relationship with Butler, that he can work with Irvin and Mike Mullins of the Wolves and other AAU programs in the Chicago area, even if they are sponsored by Adidas or Reebok.
"I heard a lot of horror stories about Butler," he said. "He would steal kids from other programs, promise kids anything to get them into his program and send kids to various colleges. If you're doing things the right way, you won't abuse kids. There is plenty for all."
Cell Phone Alerts
I KNOW BOTH OF THESE MEN, I RESPECT THEM BOTH!
LET'S GIVE LARRY BUTLER HIS DUE, HE DID ALOT FOR
AAU BASKETBALL!
NOW IF SOMEONE HAS A PROBLEM WITH LARRY'S METHODS THAT'S THEIR BEEF, NOT MINE, I HAVE NEVER BEEN INVOLVED
WITH AAU BASKETBALL, BUT I DO KNOW THAT LARRY BUTLER
HAS COACHED YOUNG MEN WHO PLAYED COLLEGE BALL AND
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL!
TAI STREETS MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST ATHLETES IN ILLINOIS
HISTORY, FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL, BASKETBALL PLAYER,
AND STATE TRACK AND FIELD WINNER!
MY FINAL COMMENT IS THIS, I DON'T THINK MOST HIGH
SCHOOL COACHES REALLY CARE FOR AAU BASKETBALL UNLESS
THEY ACTUALLY COACH AN AAU TEAM, JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION, IF YOU DO SOME CHECKING AAU BASKETBALL MAY BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR ALOT OF TRANSFERS, PLAYERS TRANSFERRING
FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL ON THE ADVICE OF STREET AGENTS
AND PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH AAU BASKETBALL, THIS PROBLEM
ISN'T ONLY IN ILLINOIS IT IS GOING ON AROUND THE COUNTRY!
GOOD LUCK LARRY BUTLER IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS!
GOOD LUCK TO TAI STREETS WITH YOUR AAU PROGRAM!
MEN WHO HAVE HELPED THE YOUTH OF ILLINOIS!
IF PEOPLE DO SOME FACT FINDING, LARRY BUTLER HAS SENT
MORE YOUNG MEN TO THE NBA THAN ANY AAU PROGRAM IN
ILLINOIS IN THE LAST 15 YEARS!
I REMEMBER WHEN LON KRUEGER'S SON PLAYED FOR LARRY
BUTLER'S TEAM, WHEN YOU HAVE A WINNING PROGRAM THERE
WILL BE PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE YOUR PROGRAM!
I know Lary Butler personally. I like the guy, he is a good friend. I will say some of the things Streets said apply to most AAU Coaches. It's not a good thing to roll the ball out there and not teach fundamentals. I am glad Streets does that. I hope Butler does some good things in the future. I agree with Phil that AAU contributes a lot to the transfers etc. I just wish more AAU coaches would teach the fundamentals of basketball. It would help USA Basketball as a whole. I will say Butler has put a lot of kids in college that otherwise might not go. And the NBA players his program has produced are many. I know he helped Todd Townsend immensely. If it wasn't for his AAU program Todd might be dead or in jail right now. He is an assistant coach at Northeastern University in Boston.
I think this article is very one sided and mean spirited. This sounds like someone who is a good friend of Streets....I agree with the above comment that please give Larry Butler his due as he has done alot for young men in the program. Why dont we talk about all that he has done??? Whether its something as small as picking up a kid who doesnt have a ride to practice, or washing their sweaty uniforms after a tournament, or something as monumental as helping them get a college education and for those lucky and talented ones the chance to play in the NBA. Think your article ridiculous and shame on you. He quit and was not fired......
Wow. The lies that people will make up to make my dad look bad. People are just jealous because my dad has won just about every AAU tournament there is. It's ok because when we go out this summer, we are going to shut a lot of people up.
I can honestly say that Larry Butler is a great guy. I had the opportunity to play for him from 1992-1997 which ended up with a scholarship to St. Mary's College Of California. I was apart of the ground floor of the Illinois Warrior program, I remember when we were called the "New Horizon Warriors". I agree that AAU basketball has become more of a business in recent years, but what Larry Butler has done for so many kids in and around the City of Chicago cannot be denied. Let's look at all of the positive things the man has done. I'm sure that the pro's outweigh the con's. No one man is perfect, and I am not posting here to say he is or was. It is your right to post this article, but I'm sure there are lots of men like myself who can tell you about a side of "LB" that is not mentioned here. I respect the opinion of Tai Streets, but do not judge a man based on what you have heard. Let us look at his total body of work and applaud him for the many lives he effected in a positive way. Let's count how many boys like myself were not on the streets on the weekend, but in a gym. Let's count how many boys were able to see other parts of the ocuntry, instead of the south, west, and other parts of the rough streets of Chicago. Let's talk about the many life skills that were learned on the road with teamates that had parents who would not only care for their own children, but also for the child with parents or a parent who showed no interest in what they were doing.
I'll get off of my soapbox now, but I just wanted to point out a lot of good that Larry Butler has done, and talk about the man that I know.