Butler Insider Akeem Glaspie on late-September practice
Butler Insider Akeem Glaspie got a first look at Butler’s newest player, center Kevin Ndzie.
Butler basketball has a revised roster, addressing athleticism issues defensively. Thad Matta is confident Butler will be improved.The Big East is known for great big men. Two have left for the NBA but those returning will see a tougher team defensively.”I think it’s going to be advantageous for us,” Thad Matta said.
The days of Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning patrolling the paint in the Big East are long gone, but the 2025-26 Butler Bulldogs are beefing up the interior of the team in hopes of improving down low.
Butler‘s latest addition to its frontcourt is 7-foot-1 center Kevin Ndzie. Ndzie played professionally in Italy for Urania Milano in Serie A2. With Ndzie on board, Butler has three players 6-11 or taller in Drayton Jones and Yohan Traore.
This team is the longest and most athletic of coach Thad Matta‘s tenure and that’s by design.
“We felt we needed size, really since we’ve been here,” Matta said. “Not only at (center) but at all positions. I feel like we were able to accomplish that. (Ndzie) is the biggest player on the team, he’s the longest player on the team, and without a doubt (adding size) was a conscious effort.”
Butler ranked 290th out of 364 Division I programs in offensive rebound percentage per KenPom in 2024-25. The Bulldogs were in the bottom half of the nation in block percentage and opposing teams shot 51.5% against Butler on 2-point shots. For too long, Butler did not have two-way players in the paint. Andre Screen was a solid option offensively, but he struggled on defense. Boden Kapke was miscast as a center.
Now, Matta has three options at center, and none of them are plodders who clog the lane. Having athletic, mobile centers allows Butler to play up-tempo while still being able to protect the rim and rebound. Improved depth makes foul trouble less of an issue and gives Matta flexibility to mix-and-match lineups.
“The way we want to play and the more bodies we’ve got, we can give guys blows along the way,” Matta said. “I think it’s going to be advantageous for us. … That’s what we’ve been after, that type of center who can hedge ball screens, can protect the rim, rim run and do all those things.”
Doing everything in practice is one thing, actually competing and succeeding in the Big East is another. Of Butler’s big men, only Troare has experience at the high Division-I level, playing sparingly at Auburn as a freshman and serving as a role player at SMU with a stop at mid-major UC Santa Barbara in between. Jones is coming from South Carolina State in the MEAC where he wasn’t regularly facing 7-footers. Ndzie played professionally in Italy, but Serie A2 is not one of the best leagues in Europe.
Two of the Big East’s top scoring centers Xavier’s Zach Freemantle and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner have left for the NBA. St. John’s senior Zuby Ejiofor is one of the top returning centers in the conference. He averaged 13 points and 6 rebounds against Butler as a junior, but his 33-point, nine-rebound outing against Marquette highlights the matchup nightmare he can be. At 6-9, 245 pounds, Ejiofor should match up best with Jones. Troare may match up best with stretch bigs, and any big who struggles with length will have a hard time scoring over Ndzie.
With three centers on the roster, Matta now has options. He doesn’t have to play players out of position, unless he wants to go small and spread the floor. Finding big men who can move is extremely hard.
Finding a serviceable big will help Butler keep up against the middle of the Big East. If one of Jones, Traore or Ndzie can develop into a dominant player, they can lift the ceiling of the program back toward perennial NCAA tournament participant.Â