Barry University Athletics

Butch Estes was named head coach of Barry University men’s basketball team in April 2013. Through the 2021-22 season, he carries an overall record of 647-404, including a 473-344 mark at the four-year level. In his nine seasons with the Bucs, he has led them to a 203-101 mark with two trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight and six trips to the national tournament. He is the only coach in school history to take five straight teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Estes became just the second Men's Basketball coach at Barry to win 200 games as Buc on Feb. 24, concluding the home portion of the 2023-24 season with an 87-73 triumph over Tampa. He guided the Bucs to the SSC Championship game as the seventh seed, upsetting second-seeded Florida Southern and third-seeded Embry-Riddle on the road. James Montgomery (First Team) and Nick Anderson (Third Team) earned All-SSC accolades, with Montgomery adding CSC Academic All-American honors.

After the abbreviated CoVID-plagued season that saw the team play just seven games, the Bucs bounced back in 2021-22 with another 20-win season and earned another NCAA Tournament bid. Jake Kakar earned Second-Team All-SSC honors for the second-straight year, while Micheal Schaefer and Landon Kirkwood were named to the All-Newcomer team. Six Buccaneers earned places on the NABC Honor Court, the most for the team in any season.

In 2019-20, Estes led the Bucs to an 18-10 season, 12-8 in the Sunshine State Conference, good for fourth-place in the league. Tylan Birts had an outstanding season, leading the team with 19.4 points per game and the conference at 8.9 rebounds per game to earn First-Team All-SSC honors. 

The Bucs went 18-11 in 2018-19, 12-8 in the SSC. Daniel Mortensen earned a spot on the All-SSC Second-Team after averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game during his senior season. He became just the 10th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, finishing with 1,045 points. Birts, who led the league in field goal shooting, was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

In 2017-18, Estes earned SSC Coach of the Year for the second straight season. His Bucs team won their second NCAA South Region Championship, defeating Eckerd, 79-72, in the Sweet 16 in Atlanta. Estes steered Barry to the Elite 8 for the second time in his tenure in Miami Shores. He guided the Buccaneers to a third straight league regular season title, including the second consecutive outright championship. He collected his 100th win at Barry in the double-overtime thriller at Tampa on Dec. 9. Point guard Elvar Fridriksson earned three All-America honors, and broke the school record for career assists. He was also named the SSC Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Estes was named SSC Coach of the Year in 2016-17 after guiding the Buccaneers to their first outright regular season championship. Barry went 23-7 overall, 13-5 in the league. The Bucs beat Eckerd in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Alabama-Huntsville in the second round. Fridriksson was named the SSC's Player of the Year. Adrian Gonzalez was a First-Team All-SSC pick. Both Fridriksson (First Team) and Gonzalez (Second Team) earned All-South Region honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America/Division II Conference Commissioners Association. Gonzalez and Fridriksson were both First Team All-South District choices by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Gonzalez and Fridrikson were also both named Honorable Mention All-Americans by the Division II Bulletin.

In 2015-16, Estes guided the Buccaneers to a 26-7 season and trip to the Elite Eight. Barry won the NCAA South Region title, beating host Alabama-Huntsville, 87-83. It was the program's first outright championship. The Bucs went 12-4 in the SSC to grab a share of the league regular season title. Senior guard/forward Yunio Barrueta earned four All-America awards, and broke the school career scoring and rebounding records. He also set the school season record for scoring average, points, field goals and three-point field goals. Barrueta was named the Most Outstanding Player of the South Region Tournament and the SSC Player of the Year. Sophomore point guard Elvar Fridriksson was named the SSC Newcomer of the Year. Senior center/power forward Tray Leonard became the first player in school history to record a triple-double. Estes won his 500th career game as a head coach on Jan. 13, 2016 when the 23rd-ranked Bucs beat Nova Southeastern, 89-86, at home.

In 2014-15, Estes directed the Bucs to a 25-6 season, which culminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Barry, which won a school-record 11 consecutive games, rose to No. 2 in the nation, and was ranked in the Top 25 in the polls in every week but the first during the season. The Bucs knocked off then-No. 1 Florida Southern, 107-102, on the road in early January. It was the only loss of the season for the Moccasins, who went on to win the NCAA Championship. Barry went 13-3 in the league, finishing second in the Sunshine State Conference. The Bucs advanced to the championship game of the SSC Tournament, falling to Florida Southern. Barrueta was named an honorable mention All-American by CoSIDA and Division II Bulletin.  

In his first season with the Bucs, Estes guided Barry to a 19-9 record and trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Buccaneers finished fourth in the Sunshine State Conference, following a 9-7 league mark. Barry won the Lynn Holiday Classic, beating No. 13 Livingstone. The Bucs also knocked off No. 6 Florida Southern. Barry opened the season with nine straight wins to earn a No. 25 national ranking. Estes, who preached unselfish basketball from the day he arrived, sewed together a team which ranked fourth in the nation in assists per game (18.9).

Prior to Barry, Estes coached for 30 years, his last stop at Palm Beach State College. He led the Panthers to an 80-14 mark in three seasons, all of which were punctuated by conference championships. In 2012-13, Palm Beach State went 29-3 to set a school record for wins. His first Panther team went 25-6, while the 2011-12 squad was 26-5. Palm Beach State went from worst to first in Estes’ first season after he inherited a team that finished in last place in the Southern Conference the year before he took over. That was the second time Estes accomplished that feat, having taken a Shoreline College team from 6-20 to 19-6 in one year’s turnaround from 2008-09 to 2009-10.

Estes has won 11 Coach of the Year awards in his career, collecting at least one at every stop along his well-travelled coaching journey. Estes’ first head coaching stop came at Presbyterian College from 1980-85. He then spent nine years at Furman University from 1985-94. Following a five-year layoff away from the court when Estes transitioned into a basketball analyst for Fox Sports Network, he coached from 1999-2003 at Guilford College.

At Presbyterian, Estes’ teams were 92-63 in five seasons. He coached three teams to 20-plus wins seasons. In 1983-84, Presbyterian went 25-6. The following year the Blue Hose went 24-8. In 1982-83, Presbyterian put together a 21-12 record. While in Clinton, S.C., his teams beat Texas-San Antonio and Stetson.

In nine seasons at Furman from 1985-94, his teams went 135-122. In 1990-91, the Paladins went 20-9 overall, 11-3 in the Southern Conference to win the regular season league title. His 1987-88 team was 18-10 overall, 11-5 in the SoConn. A year earlier, he guided Furman to a 17-12, 10-6 mark. His Furman teams beat Wake Forest, 80-68, in Winston-Salem on Dec. 5, 1987 and Villanova, 77-73 in overtime, at home on Dec. 23, 1989.

Estes held assistant coaching positions at East Carolina and Rice before accepting the head coaching position at Presbyterian.

Following his analyst role with Fox, he returned to the sidelines, landing the head coaching job at Guilford, an NCAA Division III school in Greensboro, N.C. His Quakers teams went 43-58 in four seasons. In 2001-02, his club went 15-11 overall, 10-8 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

From 2003-06, Estes coached Miami-Dade Community College to a 69-22 record. He was an assistant coach at the University of Miami in 2006-07, before moving to the Seattle area to support his wife’s career. He accepted an assistant coaching position at Seattle University in 2007-08. The following year, Estes took over a struggling program at Shoreline College in Washington, compiling a 25-28 record in two seasons. His second Shoreline team went 19-7 overall, 13-3 in the league to win the conference championship and advance to the national tournament. Estes received his eighth career league Coach of the Year award in 2009-10. 

Estes played freshman basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he was a student assistant under Tar Heels legendary coach Dean Smith.

Estes received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from North Carolina in 1973. He was a graduate assistant coach at The Citadel, where he earned his master’s degree in administrative education.

He is married to Tonya Estes, and has two sons, Brad and Drew.