Recruiting Report: Jared Butler (2018)
Riverside Academy point guard Jared Butler may not be one of the New Orleans-area players in the national spotlight, but it will only be a matter of time before he is. The rising junior is set to become the next…
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Riverside Academy point guard Jared Butler may not be one of the New Orleans-area players in the national spotlight, but it will only be a matter of time before he is.
The rising junior is set to become the next in a long line of star basketball players at the Riverside program, which has sent multiple players to Division I schools around the country and reached the Class 2A state championship game six consecutive years, winning five.
Many thought the Rebels team from last year was would be centered around senior Malik Crowfield (a VCU signee) and Herb McGee (a South Alabama signee), but Butler burst onto the scene and quickly turned Riverside’s Big 2 into a Big 3.
The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds during his sophomore campaign, and despite ending the season with a loss to Madison Prep in the Class 2A title game, Butler said he learned a great deal learning from Crowfield and McGee.
“Malik and Herb are phenomenal players,” Butler said. “Practicing against those guys and them giving me tips throughout the year made it easy. I would give them a lot of credit for my success.”
With McGee and Crowfield moving on to the college ranks, Butler is set to take over as the leader for Riverside and his confidence level is very high going into his junior season.
Butler showed to ability to go back and forth between being the facilitator for Riverside’s fast-paced offense, and also exploded for big scoring nights when his team needed it, mostly fueled by his deadly shooting stroke.
But Butler’s ambitions don’t end at becoming one of the next greats at Riverside, he says he believes he will soon be in the conversation for the best point point guard in Louisiana for the Class of 2018.
“I’ve been waiting on the opportunity to become a major impact player since 8th grade,” he said. “The ball is going to be in my hands a lot, but I still have good players around me like Garland Robertson and Kash Foley.
“My time is coming very soon and soon they’ll be comparing me and (Class of 2018 top point guard) Javonte Smart over who’s the better player soon.”
Butler has received interest from a plethora of schools including Memphis, VCU, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Arizona, University of Connecticut, Vanderbilt and Virginia, but his only offers so far have come from Tulane and LSU.
He has also received offers for football scholarships to Grambling and Nicholls, but offseason knee surgeries has caused Butler to question whether his football career is over at Riverside.
Butler said he hopes to make his return to Elfrid Payton Elite some time in July, but he will be patient with his rehab and make decisions on his future once that process is complete. He also said that he plans on only playing one sport once he makes it to college.
“I’ve just been trying to rest up and make sure I get 100 percent as soon as possible,” he said. “I’ll base my college decision on the environment and the quality of the program, and of course my relationship with the staff and the players.”