Gulfport turns to Mississippi Coast native to revive storied boys basketball program

Gulfport has hired Brian Butler to lead the boys basketball program, the school announced Monday.

He replaces Steve Hesser, who lasted just one season as the Admirals coach — a 9-21 campaign that ranks among the worst in the storied program’s history.

“When Gulfport basketball is great, it elevates the Coast and state basketball scene,” GHS athletic director Matt Walters said in a press release. “Our return to greatness will come with the hire of Brian Butler. While some individuals have success due to being in the right place at the right time, Coach Butler has worked his way through the ranks with tenacity and determination.

“He was built for this opportunity and will guide the Admirals and the Coast back to basketball prominence in the state of Mississippi.”

Butler arrives from a two-year stint at 4A Columbia High School where his Wildcats are coming off a region championship.

Butler is a Mississippi Coast native who played for Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner in high school at St. Stanislaus. Since then, he’s served as an assistant at Oak Grove before helming programs at Sacred Heart, South Jones and then Columbia.

“Brian Butler is one of the brightest young coaches in our state,” Ladner said in the Admiral statement. “He’s left each job he’s had better than he found it. He fits the mold and image expected at a school like Gulfport High, with its incredible tradition and expectations.

“He’s a class man in a class school and program and it won’t be long before the Admirals will be competing for a state championship.”

Butler has built a reputation as a program builder. His first team at Sacred Heart when 7-20 before his fourth team won 23 games and reached the 1A Final Four.

At South Jones, the Braves increased their win total in each year Butler led the program.

In 12 seasons as a head coach, Butler has reached the postseason five times and been named a region Coach of the Year three times.

“Growing up here on the Coast, Gulfport was a dominant presence in everything, especially basketball,” Butler said during his introductory press conference. “Just to be here and be a part of it is truly surreal. I really can’t believe it’s happening right now... A tradition like this, it can really elevate the entire community. And that’s my goal here, is to just unite this community and elevate this program again back to where it was at one point before.”

A new era at Gulfport

Butler’s hire represents a shift at GHS in multiple ways. For one, it’s a shift in the hiring strategy Walters has deployed since arriving at the school in 2022.

Walters has several “flashy” hires on his track record, including poaching Blake Pennock from Ocean Springs to run the football program, tabbing Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese to helm track and field and bringing in the now-ousted Hesser — who won an NCAA Division II national championship at Drury University.

Butler arrives from the other end of the spectrum. The project builder has led programs from 1A, 4A and 5A, building them from scratch while in pursuit of his first Gold Ball.

While Walters acknowledges his splashy tendencies, he believes Butler is the perfect man to right the ship on Loposser Avenue.

“This isn’t that splash hire, yet,” Walters said. “And all those hires weren’t intended to be splashy, they just happened to be splashy. Those hires represented what I thought was the best thing for the program at the time. And I wholeheartedly believe this is the right person for the program at this time.”

Walters said Butler interviewed for the open position last year following Owen Miller’s departure and did very well, there were just “a lot of resumes in the room.”

Butler returned and sold his vision with authenticity, for community engagement and a full-court press brand of basketball and won over the hiring committee the second time around.

“Quite honestly, resumes don’t mean everything in the world,” Walters said. “A coach that can establish what he wants to do with the program and connect with our kids... that happened already. There was that connection already.

“This is the right guy for our program and hopefully he is the last boys basketball coach that I ever hire here.”

Butler added: “I told him I’m not a splash hire, as they say, but I am kind of a big deal.”

Marking Butler’s hire at GHS even more unique is the fact he is the first Black coach in the history of the boys program.

It’s a distinction that Butler says carries a lot of meaning with him.

“It’s an honor, there were a lot of great coaches here throughout the years,” Butler said. “Obviously, Bert Jenkins and Brian Caldwell come to mind. Coach (Ricky) Stone, Owen Miller, all these guys that came before me. But to be the first African-American head coach here, it’s surreal. It’s a real honor.”

Butler has already met with his players and said he has plans to tie the full program together from middle school to varsity while also working to bring former Admirals back into the building to build the community around his program.

Gulfport is the last Coast program at any level to win a state championship and did so in 2014. Butler’s hire is one Walters hopes will bring the Admirals back to prominence.

“I think success on the Coast is synonymous with Gulfport and when Gulfport is great, the state is great,” Walters said. “So when it came time to pick our next basketball coach, it was very important to me to have a guy who is going to be here a long time and establish his own version of what Gulfport basketball looks like, but also reflecting what the history is. And the history is greatness.”