News

Ex-Tommie Basketball Star Cole Butler Dies at Age 25

March 7, 2005

Funeral services are Thursday at 10 a.m. in Rochester for former St. Thomas men's basketball standout Cole Butler, 25, who died in a snowmobile accident early Saturday morning near Siren, Wisconsin.

Visitation will be Wednesday evening, 5-8 p.m.

Butler was a senior starting center on the Tommies' 2002 MIAC playoff qualifying team that swept the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles. He worked in downtown Minneapolis in financial services.

In 101 career games from 1998-2002, Butler converted 54.8% of his field goals and had 720 points and 376 rebounds. He shot 59% from the field and averaged 8.3 ppg and 4.6 rpg. The Tommies went 79-25 in his era, including a 62-18 MIAC record. He led the conference in free-throw shooting as a junior and made the MIAC All-Rookie team as a freshman.