Columbus Valley - In The Game High School Sports Magazine

Ariel Butts Carver High School Columbus, Georgia by Robert Preston Jr. photography by Ryan Gibson

There was a time Anson Hundley did not particularly care to see Ariel Butts, now a senior center at Carver High School, on the basketball court. That was until Hundley made the move from Jordan High School in Columbus to Carver High. Now that he is coaching Butts instead of coaching against her, there’s nobody he’d rather see under the basket. And with good reason, too - the 6’3” post player is one of the best female basketball players in the state and should be one of the most dominant players on any team anywhere this season.

Butts grew up in Columbus but didn’t start playing basketball until she was in the fifth grade. When she joined the local recreation leagues, nobody had any idea she would turn into the player she is today. She wasn’t particularly tall, and while she was a pretty good player, nothing screamed “future superstar” in that first year. Butts found basketball to be a fun sport, and, as she puts it, she “just kept on playing.” Butts also continued to improve. And grow. Before long, everyone started seeing that she had a bright future ahead of her.

Over the last few years, Hundley’s job has been figuring out ways to stop Butts. It was not easy. She has the size, athleticism and knowledge of the game to stymie the best high school basketball strategists. “She’s very aggressive around the rim. She blocks shots and scores well. Ariel is a complete post player,” says Hundley.

This is Hundley’s first year as the head coach of the Carver women’s basketball program. When he came over from Jordan, one of the most appealing aspects of the move was being able to finally coach Butts. “Oh yeah, it was something I was looking forward to,” he recalls.

Despite having one of the best young players on its roster, the Carver women’s team did not have a very good 2010-2011 season. The Tigers made the playoffs but lost in the first round. This year, Hundley has taken it upon himself to get Carver over the first round hump and into the later postseason rounds. To do that, he has to maximize Butts’s talents. He wants her teammates to get the ball to her, but in order for that to happen, the guards must step up their game. If the guards are playing well, defenders won’t sit under the basket on Butts or her 6’2” partner in crime in the paint, Iesha Bonner. “The guards have to shoot well to draw defenders out to them. When the guards are hitting their shots, that opens up shots for Ariel and Iesha,” states Hundley.

Opening up shots for Bonner and Butts is exactly what Hundley would like to see happen. He wants his post players under the basket fighting in the paint all night, which is easier said than done. Sometimes it is very tough being Butts and standing head and shoulders - literally - over everyone else on the court. Sometimes, officials have an odd way of handling her. Because Butts is so big, at times it is almost as though they see her as invincible. But let her make the slightest contact with an opposing player, and the whistles go off. “To beat her, you need to double team her and keep someone in front of her. If you do that, you might get a push-off call. That’s the only way I saw to contain her when we played against her. Because Ariel is so much bigger, she gets called for fouls a lot,” says Hundley. At the same time, though, the officials must believe that because she’s bigger than everyone, she can handle more abuse. “Ariel can have girls hanging off her and she won’t get a call. But she gets fouls called on her all the time.”

Butts did not anticipate she would have to learn a new style of play as a senior. With Hundley joining the Carver staff, she found herself doing that very thing. Hundley started working with the Tigers in the summer and began instituting a more up-tempo and aggressive brand of basketball. It has taken some getting used to, but Butts and her teammates have bought into what Hundley is trying to do. As a result, the girls are faster, stronger and more formidable players. “We’ve been doing a lot of passing and running drills. It was hard at first, but we’re getting used to it now,” says Butts.

The center has some lofty goals for her senior season. She doesn’t just want to make a deep run in the playoffs. She would like to see her Tigers teammates in the mix for a state title. On a personal level, she would like to end the season with Player of the Year honors. To do that, she has committed herself to doing exactly what Hundley says. “I’ve been working hard and listening to Coach Hundley. If he or my teammates get on me, I fix it immediately. I try to correct everything as quickly as I can,” she says.

Throughout her basketball career, Butts has made enough outstanding plays to fill hours and hours of highlight tapes. When she looks back over her career thus far, she remembers one game in particular. It isn’t a memorable contest because of anything she did, but rather because of who she played. During an AAU tournament in Augusta - Butts plays with the Georgia Jaguars - Butts found herself squaring off against Rachel Hollivay, a 6’4” post player from Mississippi who ESPN had ranked as the number-eight player in the country. The competition on the court was fierce. “We fought hard when we were playing. But after the game, we spent a lot of time talking,” says Butts. The spectators who watched that game saw two of the best centers in the country battling from tip-off to the final basket. At the time, Hollivay was the number-two ranked center in the nation while Butts was listed as number nine. Witnessing two top-10 players at their positions go at it all night was an impressive sight. Hollivay’s team got the better of the Jaguars, winning by 10 points. Afterwards, Hollivay and Butts jokingly discussed going to the same college.

Fast forward to November, when Butts was ready to make a decision about her basketball future. She had a choice of schools, but ended up committing to Rutgers. She immediately felt drawn to the program and felt it would be a place where she could continue to develop as a player. Most importantly, head coach Vivian Stringer didn’t go out on a limb and make Butts any promises about playing time. “She told me I could probably start as a freshman if I wanted to, but I was going to have to work for it. All the other freshmen want to start just like me, and they’re going to be working hard, too. Coach Stringer wants to win, and she was realistic about my role with the team,” says Butts.

When Butts committed, she didn’t make a big deal about. She wanted to keep it low-key and off the radar. Then, a few days later, Butts learned that Hollivay had also committed to Rutgers. “When I found that out, I wanted to make a big deal about it and tell everyone,” she says. The signing of Butts and Hollivay is big for the Scarlet Knights, and it means Butts will have a chance to play on a very good team at the highest levels of women’s basketball.

When Butts began playing in the local recreation leagues all those years ago, she had no idea her basketball hobby would lead to an elite level. For her, it was just a way to have fun and hang out with her friends. Now, basketball will pay for her education and could carry her to the biggest stage of the game. “I always wanted to go to college, but I didn’t think about playing basketball in college until a year or so ago. I started seeing more coaches at more of my games during my sophomore year, and I thought I might have the chance to be a good player,” she says. Now she’s thinking about something much bigger - the WNBA. “I hope I get drafted after college and get to play in the WNBA. If not, I’ll go to work as a nurse. That’s what I want to do - be a nurse and help people.”