Firecracker Mary Butler ’15, commits to Brown University

Firecracker Mary Butler Commits to Brown University

As a gifted academic student and talented athlete who happens to be 6’1″, Mary Butler has been recruited by many schools in the America East (Maine), Northeast 10 (St. Anselm College, SNHU) and Patriot League (Holy Cross, Bucknell, Colgate, American University), but as she neared the end of her recruiting journey the versatile Bangor HS Class President couldn’t resist the allure of the prestigious Ivy league. After attending a three day camp on campus in Providence, RI, Mary met with the Brown coaching staff and committed to play for the Bears, attaining her dream to study and play basketball in the Ivy league.

Butler led her Bangor Rams team to an Eastern Maine Class A title in 2013, where she was named to the Bangor Daily News All-State Third Team and was a First Team KVAC North All-Conference selection after averaging 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots per game. She averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds per game in her junior season and was named First Team All-Conference again along with Honorable Mention All-State by the Bangor Daily News.

Currently carrying a 4.8 weighted GPA, Butler was named Best in Show at the Maine State Science and Engineering Fair March 23 and also won first place in the Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Science category. Butler won an all expenses paid trip to Phoenix, AZ to compete in the INTEL International science fair along with $1,200 after being named overall Champion in the Maine State Science fair in 2013. When she is not playing basketball, designing water filtration systems for third world countries, or excelling on the soccer field, Mary attends to her duties as BHS Class President.

Brown finished the 2013-2014 season 10-18 and brought in former Massachusetts high school and Boston College phenomenon Sarah Behn to take over head coaching duties. One of the appeals to Butler was Behn’s up temp and aggressive style. While at UMass Lowell Behn’s 2012 -2013 team averaged 81 points per game, second in all of Division II. Prior to UMass, Behn coached at Foxboro High, FraminghamState, and Franklin Pierce. Coach Behn is the all time leading scorer in Boston College history and averaged 35.0 points per game playing professionally in Luxembourg after college.

When asked about Butler, Firecracker head coach Brian Clement said, “Mary is a very unique young lady. It is rare to see someone of her academic prowess also be so gifted athletically. Those two attributes combined with her humility, integrity, and leadership make her very special. I believe she will excel in the classroom at Brown and also believe the style of play will allow her to make an immediate impact on the court as well. She has made great choices and is a wonderful role model for the younger kids in our program.”

Butler joins Firecracker teammates Victoria Lux (Bentley), Ashley Briggs (St. Anselm College), and Ashley Storey (UNH) in committing over the past month.