WKU Signs DePaul Transfer Jaylen Butz

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Western Kentucky University basketball team has added transfer Jaylen Butz to its roster, it was announced on Friday.

A 6-9 forward, Butz joins the Hilltoppers after three seasons with DePaul, where he played in 89 games with 47 career starts. As a junior in 2019-20, he started all 31 games for the Blue Demons, averaging 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Jaylen Butz (DePaul Athletics Photo)

Butz ranks third in DePaul history with a 58.9% field goal percentage (257 of 436). Butz is the only player in program history with at least three games of at least five field goals without a missed shot, accomplishing the feat five times.

The transfer will have one year of eligibility remaining.

“We’re excited to have Jaylen join our program,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “He brings some size and some versatility to our frontcourt, and he’s shown the ability to score the basketball in different ways against high-level competition.”

The Fort Wayne, Ind., native Butz ranked third across the Big East Conference in field goal percentage (59.3%) and 11th in offensive rebounding (2.2 per game).

Over his freshman and sophomore seasons, Butz played in 55 games with three starts in his debut year and 11 in his second. During the 2018-19 campaign, the forward notched 10 games in double figures scoring, four with at least 10 rebounds, and averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds through the Blue Demons’ CBI run. In the 2017-18 season, he grabbed at least five rebounds in 12 games and scored in the double digits on three occasions.

In high school, Butz led North Side High school to its first Indiana state title game appearance since 1965. He was named the 2017 Fort Wayne New-Sentinel Player of the Year after averaging 17.3 points and 12.6 rebounds per game as a senior. The three-star prospect was also honored as an Indiana All-Star.