Butler hires Austin Parkinson as women's basketball coach

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Butler hired Austin Parkinson as its new women's basketball coach Friday, ending a search that lasted a little more than two weeks.

Parkinson won't even have to leave town. The IUPUI campus is only a few miles away from Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse.

He replaces Kurt Godlevske, who was fired by director Barry Collier on March 22 after two of the worst seasons in Bulldogs history. Butler went 1-27 last season.

'œAustin set himself apart from a strong pool of candidates with his experience building a championship-caliber program at IUPUI and his vision for how Butler will achieve similar success within the Big East,'ť Collier said.

Parkinson, a former Purdue star, left the IUPUI men's staff in September 2010 to take over the scandal-tinged women's program. Over the next 12 seasons, the program went 224-141 and became a Horizon League powerhouse.

He posted eight 20-win seasons including a 24-5 mark last season when the Jaguars won their second league tournament title in three years and made the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

'œEverything is in place at Butler for our program to make noise in the Big East and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Bulldogs,'ť Parkinson said.

IUPUI chancellor Andrew Klein said a search for Parkinson's replacement will begin immediately.

It's the second hiring Butler has made this week. Collier named Thad Matta as the men's basketball coach on Sunday.

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More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25