Carthage College Athletics

From Chicago, Johnie Butler lettered four times in basketball (1968-71) and was Carthage’s first recipient of the Fred Young ‘Most Outstanding Basketball Player” Award in 1971. Butler earned first-team All-CCIW honors in 1971 and second-team all-conference honors in 1969. He set a school record in 1971 with a 26.5 points-per-game average. His 636 points that season was later eclipsed by Barry Bonnet's 648 in 1977. Butler’s 17 field goals against Millikin on Jan. 30, 1971, remains a Carthage game record.

Butler, who is ranked sixth on the Carthage career scoring list with 1,662 points, went on to become an assistant basketball coach at the University of Iowa under Lute Olson, an assistant at Northern Illinois University and finally as athletic director at Calumet High School in Chicago.