Boston, MA

The Boston Celtics have signed Butler University coach Brad Stevens to a six-year deal to be their 17th head coach.

"Brad and I share a lot of the same values," said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. "Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court."

The 36-year-old Stevens never played or coached in the NBA and didn't coach in one of the premier college leagues.

But he was lauded throughout his time at Butler for using analytics and adherence to underutilized basketball efficiency metrics to turn his mid-market school into an NCAA power,

He compiled 166 wins in six seasons as Butler's head men's basketball coach, the most for any NCAA Division I basketball coach over the first six years to start a career.

In leading the Bulldogs to a 166-49 record, including a 12-5 record in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, they won four conference regular season championships, three league tournament titles and six trips to postseason tournament play.

In 2009-2010, Stevens engineered the most remarkable season in Butler basketball history with a 33-5 overall record, the Horizon League's first 18-0 conference mark, fourth overall unbeaten record, a fourth consecutive league regular season championship, and a second conference tourney crown.

The Bulldogs were nationally-ranked for the fourth straight year and compiled a school record 25-game win streak, which was the longest in the nation. Stevens was named NABC All-District 12 Coach, and he was a finalist for several additional national coaching awards. The Bulldogs ended the season as the No. 2-ranked team in the final ESPN/USA Today national poll.

Stevens is also the only coach in school and league history to lead a team to back-to-back NCAA Division I national championship games in 2010 and 2011.

He was also the youngest coach to reach the Final Four since Bob Knight in 1973.

A native of Zionsville, Indiana, Stevens was a three-time academic All-America nominee while earning four varsity letters at DePauw University, before graduating with a degree in economics. He later joined the Butler University program as the coordinator of basketball operations under then-coach Thad Matta, before being named head coach in 2007.

 

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