HIGH ACHIEVERS: Basketball is the engine propelling UNB national award winner Katie Butts

By Martin Cleary

Life is basketball for Ottawa’s Katie Butts.

For the past eight years, the court sport has been a driving force in her daily routine, whether she’s listening and learning at practices, applying herself in games or taking a broad reach into her community as a volunteer.

If one year typifies her dedication to basketball on and off the court, it’s her 2024-25 senior season with the University of New Brunswick Reds women’s team.

Not only did Butts, 21, emerge as one of the prominent players in the Atlantic University Sport league, but also her all-around skills were recognized during post-season awards at the conference and national levels.

“The recognition is fantastic. All I wanted to do was spread the word and make people aware of what is possible and what can be done. I wanted to inspire other university athletes,” Butts, a 6-2 forward, said in a recent phone interview.

Primarily, Butts is a student-athlete, having completed her fourth year with the Reds women’s basketball team and as an arts major, studying psychology, speech therapy and neuroscience.

But there’s more to Butts than scoring and studying. She thrives on reaching into her university and Fredericton neighbourhoods.

After earning a spot on the athletes’ council in her freshman year, Butts has served as the co-president for the past three years and initiated two major projects.

She developed and implemented the Send a Kid to Camp Fund by selling UNB athletics merchandise and using the profits to allow children to attend summer sports camps at the university for the past three years. Butts, who also designed the UNB athletic gear, has seen about 25 youth experience the summer camp in the past two years.

As an honours and Dean’s List student, Butts understands the importance of reading, which motivated her to revive UNB’s Read with the REDS program. Players drop into elementary schools and read to the classrooms.

“The best reward is making the little kids smile … and have them be involved,” Butts added.

As athletes’ council co-president, she also has been a part of fund-raising ventures for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Salvation Army.

When time allowed, Butts gave back to the sport by serving as a referee for youth basketball games in the New Brunswick capital.

While basketball and community work swirled around her, Butts also has been a two-time Academic All-Canadian and has a most recent Grade-Point Average of 4.1 out of 4.3, which makes her an A student. Her four-year GPA is 3.7.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” insisted Butts, who spent many summers volunteering at the Dovercourt Recreation Centre because of her passion for working with youth.

“Katie is an excellent student-athlete, who has excelled in the classroom, on the court and is serving our communities,” said women’s basketball head coach Erin McAleenan.

“Ever since Katie Butts arrived on campus at UNB, she has provided youth with more opportunities to fall in love with the game of basketball. Katie cares about making our community better and it is an honour for her to be recognized for her contributions.”

Butts’ all-around approach to basketball and talents on the court recently put her in the spotlight. The AUS named Butts its Outstanding Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner for the second consecutive year.

At the U Sports championship awards dinner in Vancouver last month, Butts won the Sylvia Sweeney Award as the most outstanding student-athlete for her athletic, academic and volunteer work.

As a basketball player, the AUS first-team all-star experienced her finest season as an individual player, despite the Reds finishing sixth in the AUS standings at 9-11 and losing their only playoff game.

Butts entered her fourth season aiming to average a double-double in points and rebounds and reach the 1,000-point mark in career scoring. She achieved one of those two goals in her 20-game AUS regular season, averaging 19.1 points and 12.0 rebounds a game.

She finished the season with 381 points, which left her at 970 career points. Butts would certainly like to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau, but she’s uncertain where she will be for the 2025-26 academic year and what she will study.

Butts has applied for the speech therapy program at Dalhousie University and Western University. She said between 600 and 700 students apply for that program, which accepts only 30 each year.

If she isn’t accepted into speech therapy, she plans to return to UNB and do an honours psychology program.

The journey to UNB was an interesting one for Butts as it happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a student-athlete in the Capital Courts Academy located at Cairine Wilson Secondary School, she couldn’t visit the UNB campus and decided it was the perfect university for her based on watching YouTube videos.

As a player, she didn’t see much playing time for her high school prep team in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association. But she trained hard and learned so much under Capital Courts co-founders Fabienne Blizzard (head coach) and Merrick Palmer (player development coach).

“In Grade 10, I barely touched the floor and Grade 11 was the same as that season was shortened by COVID,” Butts recalled. “In Grade 12, I didn’t play because of COVID.

“But they took me and shaped me into who I am today. They gave me a good foot to start on. Under the program, I really matured. Basketball was great as it helped me grow up. I was ready physically and mentally for university. They really know what they are doing,” Butts said, praising the academy’s program.

When Butts enrolled at UNB, she earned a role as a first-year starter on the Reds women’s team.

“I was very lucky to be given a starter’s role right away,” Butts said. “It was beyond what I imagined. Being given the opportunity and trust was really great. I took what I had and pushed forward. I was given a great opportunity and I ran with it.”