Class of 2026 Ethan Butler makes bold career move, updates recruitment
By ZACH SMART
Class of 2026 guard-forward Ethan Butler will be attending PHH Prep (AZ) for his senior season and playing for the Diamond Doves in the Overtime Elite League.
The 6-foot-6 Butler, instrumental in helping lead St. Francis Prep HS (NY) to a 14-2 record in the highly competitive and evenly matched CHSAA “AA” this this past season, made the decision official on Monday.
The New York City native holds offers from Fordham, Siena, Fairfield, Manhattan, and others.
He has been hearing from the likes of Boston University, Colgate, DePaul, UC San Diego, and Drake.
Butler registered his presence as a reliable outside shot maker with an adeptness for crashing the offensive and defensive glass at St. Francis Prep this past season, as he piled up several double doubles.
Butler has increased with his in-traffic attacking, finishing crafty surges to the rim with his off hand and cramming handful of loud dunks as a junior.
The Diamond Doves are coming off a season in which they featured college ready talent such as versatile, 6-foot-7 guard/wing DeShawn Gory (Fresno State) 6-foot-10, 240-pound catch and dunk threat Ethan Crowley (Nevada), among others.
The program returns one of the premier players in the 2027 class in Javon Bardwell.
A smooth, high scoring 6-foot-5 wing, Bardwell holds offers from Louisville, Southern California, Texas, Nevada, TCU, Cal, Texas Tech, and a bevy of others.
As a floor stretcher with range and a manipulative one on one arsenal, Butler will add another scoring source to a deep team. With legitimate ball tracking skills, Butler had multiple games of 12 rebounds or more at SFP last season.
“The program that JO (Diamond Doves head coach John Ortega) runs and the facilities I’m going to be using every single day will help me get ready for college, to step on the court as a freshman and make an impact (right away),” Butler said.
“The role I expect myself to play is one of a guy who scores and gets my teammates involved, plays defense, rebounds, and does whatever it takes to win.”
Butler said without St. Francis Prep, the opportunity to play in college might have never materialized.
“I made hundreds of memories with that team, it was 10/10 experience.”
Butler is now playing for Mike Rice and the NJ Shoreshots on the UA circuit. He is slated for visits to Siena, Colgate, and Fairfield at the end of the month.
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