Thad Matta Basketball School

Coaching Staff

Mike Pegues
Assistant Coach

Mike Pegues joined Thad Matta’s Butler staff in April of 2022 as an assistant coach. In his two seasons with the Bulldogs, Pegues has helped Butler to a postseason berth as the team made the 2024 NIT.

Pegues (pronounced puh-GEESE) spent four seasons at Louisville, following Chris Mack from Xavier. During the 2021-22 season, Pegues was in the role of head coach for a total of 18 games. He was thrust into the interim head coach role after Mack and Louisville mutually parted on Jan. 26 and finished out the final dozen games of the season, leading the Cardinals to an ACC Tournament victory. Pegues filled in as acting head coach for the Cardinals for the first six games of the season while Mack served a university-imposed suspension. At that time he guided the Cardinals to a 5-1 record and the championship of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship with victories over Mississippi State and Maryland.

The Cardinals posted a record of 70-47 in his four seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals tied for second in the ACC during the 2019-20 campaign while posting a 24-7 overall record. The Cardinals finished the season (which saw the postseason canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) positioned eighth in the nation in the NCAA’s NET rankings and were 14th by AP and 13th in the USA Today coaches poll. In his first season at Louisville (2018-19), Pegues helped the Cardinals produce a 20-14 record and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament while facing the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule.

Pegues helped the Cardinals build a 2021 recruiting class that ranked 17th in the nation by 247Sports.com, 19th by Rivals.com and 20th by Sports Illustrated. His efforts aided Louisville in assembling an impressive six-man 2019 signing class, which ranked ninth in the nation by ESPN.com, 10th by Rivals.com and 11th by 247sports.com.

During Pegues’ six seasons at Xavier (2012-18), the Musketeers produced a 142-67 record (.679) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on five occasions, reaching an Elite Eight and Sweet 16. Xavier’s 2017-18 squad achieved a 29-6 record, won Xavier’s first BIG EAST Conference regular season championship, earned the school’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished third in the final Associated Press poll. Pegues contributed significantly to Xavier gathering multiple nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including three straight top 20 ranked classes in his final three years there.

Before his arrival at Xavier, Pegues spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater Delaware, under head coach Monté Ross. Delaware finished 18-14 in Pegues’ final season, including a 12-6 record in the CAA. Pegues served as video coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth during the 2009-10 season, helping the Rams to a 27-9 record and the CBI title.

Pegues had a stellar collegiate career at Delaware, where he earned a degree in communications in 2000. The all-time leading scorer in Delaware men’s basketball history with 2,030 points, Pegues led the Blue Hens to two NCAA Tournament appearances while playing under former UD head coach and current Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey from 1996-2000. He was a two-time All-District selection and a 2000 CoSIDA Academic All-American and became the first UD men’s player to be named the America East Conference Player of the Year as a junior. He was inducted into the UD Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

A native of Washington, D.C., Pegues attended Delaware after an impressive career at national power De­Matha Catholic High School, where he helped his team to a combined 105-26 record and two No. 1 rankings in the Washington, D.C. area.

He played professionally in Italy, New Zealand, England and Argentina, as well as one season in the Continental Basketball Association. After suffering a knee injury, he returned close to home to teach at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, D.C. He served as an assistant coach for three seasons at Bishop O’Connell High School under Joe Wooten, son of legendary high school head coach Morgan Wooten. He also coached the DC Assault AAU squad.

Pegues has a son, Michael Anthony Pegues III, who was born in June of 2020.

Maurice Joseph
Assistant Coach

Maurice Joseph joined Thad Matta’s Butler staff as an assistant coach in June of 2022. In his two seasons with the Bulldogs, Joseph has helped Butler to a postseason berth as the team made the 2024 NIT.

Joseph spent the 2021-22 season at Richmond as a member of Chris Mooney’s staff. He helped the Spiders to the 2022 Atlantic 10 Tournament title, a win against Big Ten champion Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and a 24-13 record. Those 24 wins were the fourth-most in single-season program history.

The majority of Joseph’s coaching career came on the sidelines at George Washington. His eight seasons in the nation’s capital saw Joseph rise from assistant director of operations in 2011 to assistant coach in 2013 to head coach in 2016. Joseph spent three seasons (2016-19) leading the George Washington program, during which time he was the youngest collegiate head coach in a Top 10 RPI conference.

In his first season at George Washington (2016-17), Joseph led the Colonials to a 20-15 record and berth in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). While at GW, Joseph worked with three players who went on to play in the NBA: Patricio Garino, Tyler Cavanaugh, and Yuta Watanabe. As an assistant at GW, Joseph helped the Colonials to the 2016 NIT Championship.

Following his three seasons as the head coach at GW, he spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach at Fairleigh Dickinson. Joseph then joined the George Mason staff as an assistant coach for the 2020-21 season, helping the Patriots to a 13-9 record while assisting with the development of Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Tyler Kolek.

As a player, Joseph led Vermont to a 49-19 record over his final two collegiate seasons, including an America East championship and appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a senior in 2010. Joseph averaged a career-best 13.9 points per game that season, second on the team. He began his college career at Michigan State, where he was part of a pair of NCAA Tournament teams while appearing in 52 total games as a freshman and sophomore.

Following his graduation from Vermont in 2010, Joseph played professionally in Israel with Hapoel Afula before he began his coaching career.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Joseph prepped at Champlain-St. Lambert and was named Canada's National Player of the Year in 2005.

Joseph and his wife, Kristen, have a son, Kameron, who was born in 2021. Joseph's younger brother, Kris, is a former Syracuse standout who was selected in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Alex Barlow
Assistant Coach

Alex Barlow, who earned Academic All-America honors during his playing career at Butler and has spent the last eight seasons with the Boston Celtics organization, joined Thad Matta's staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2023-24 season. In his lone season on the Butler staff, Barlow helped the Bulldogs to a postseason berth as the team made the 2024 NIT field.

Barlow most recently served as the head coach of the Celtics’ G-League affiliate, guiding the Maine Celtics to 30 wins across the Showcase and regular season, and the team’s first playoff berth since 2017. Barlow was just the third coach in franchise history to reach 30 wins in a season. During his time in Maine, he has helped to develop NBA players, including Robert Williams, Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet and Luka Samanic. Barlow also coached former Butler standout Kamar Baldwin in Maine during the 2022-23 season.

Barlow joined the Celtics organization as a video assistant under former Butler head coach Brad Stevens in 2015, serving in that role for two seasons. He also spent the 2018-19 season in Boston, working primarily with Celtics then-rookie Robert Williams.

His time in the G-League included one season as an assistant coach (2017-18) and three seasons as the associate head coach (2019-20 through 2021-22) before he was promoted to head coach for the 2022-23 season.

Barlow, with an eye toward a future career in coaching, chose to walk on at Butler under Stevens. He earned a scholarship later in his playing career, helping the Bulldogs to NCAA Tournament appearances in both 2013 (in Stevens’ final season at Butler) and 2015. He earned a reputation as a gritty defender and his 187 career steals are fourth on Butler’s all-time list. The point guard handed out 274 assists during his Butler career, which is among the Top 20 in Butler history. During the 2014-15 season, Barlow was named second-team Academic All-America, won the Senior CLASS Award, was named the BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year (which he was also awarded in 2013-14), and was voted as the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award recipient for men’s basketball. He played in all 100 games over his final three seasons at Butler, starting 88 of those contests.

Barlow and his wife, Belle, have two children, son Colton and daughter Addison. Belle was also a standout student-athlete at Butler. She was an AVCA All-Region honoree as a volleyball player who then started for the Bulldogs' women's basketball program for two seasons once she exhausted her volleyball eligibility.

Jon Diebler
Director of Recruiting

Jon Diebler has served as a member of Thad Matta's staff since the veteran coach returned to Butler in 2022. In his two seasons with the Bulldogs, Diebler has helped Butler to a postseason berth as the team made the 2024 NIT.

Originally hired as the program's director of recruiting in April of 2022, Diebler moved into an assistant coaching role when the NCAA expanded the number of staff members who could serve as on-court instructors.

After retiring as a player, Diebler started his coaching career with the Charlotte Hornets, serving in a video/basketball operations position during the 2021-22 season.

Diebler played for Matta from 2007-11 before being drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft. He then embarked on a professional playing career over the next decade with stops in Greece, Turkey, and Israel.

Diebler is one of the most prolific scorers and shooters in Ohio State history. His 374 career three-pointers are the most in program history (only Jordan Bohannon of Iowa has made more in Big Ten history), while his 1,536 points are No. 15 in the Buckeyes’ record book. Diebler shot 41.6 percent from three-point range for his career, including a 50.2-percent mark as a senior, the best in Ohio State history.

Selected as Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 2007, Diebler once scored 77 points in a game, averaged 41.2 as a senior and ended his high school career with 3,208 points, still the state record.

Diebler and his wife, Caitlin, have a daughter, Ava, and a son, Jayce (who are twins).

Connor McCaffery
Assistant Coach

Connor McCaffery, who most recently served on the Indiana Pacers staff after concluding his playing career at Iowa, joined the Butler staff as an assistant coach in September of 2024.

“Following a high-level playing career, Connor has had the opportunity to both contribute and learn alongside one of the best staffs in the NBA,” said Butler head coach Thad Matta. “Those experiences will be very valuable to our staff. He obviously comes from a basketball family that I know very well and I’m excited for the impact he is going to have on our program both quickly and in the long run.”

McCaffery served as the Basketball Development Coordinator for the Indiana Pacers since the beginning of the 2023-24 season. His role involved a number of responsibilities, including running the scout team, assisting with video operations and scouting report, in addition to working out with the active roster. The Pacers advanced to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 after improving their regular-season win total to 47 after missing the playoffs the season before.

McCaffery played for his father, Fran, at Iowa. Connor finished his Iowa career an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.59 (527 assists; 147 turnovers), which is second best in NCAA history. He played in 111 Iowa wins, tying Jordan Bohannon for most in program history and saw action in 166 games for the Hawkeyes, the second-most in program history. Connor played alongside his brother, Patrick, for a majority of his Iowa career; Patrick is a member of the Bulldogs' 2024-25 roster after graduating from Iowa and utilizing his final season of eligibility at Butler. Jack, the youngest of the McCaffery brothers, has signed to play at Butler beginning with the 2025-26 season.

Andrew Lentz
Coordinator of Basketball Operations

Andrew Lentz joined Thad Matta's staff in May of 2022 as the coordinator of basketball operations. In this role, Lentz will oversee the program's operations while also serving as the program's point of contact for administrative areas within the athletics department.

Prior to arriving at Butler, Lentz spent four seasons at Louisville as the assistant athletic director for men’s basketball as a member of Chris Mack’s staff. Lentz oversaw multiple creative initiatives while serving as the program’s liaison for all external areas and had other administrative duties. He maintained the Louisville Basketball brand and identity through graphic design, social media, video production and other visual projects.

Lentz was also involved in multiple aspects in recruiting, operations, travel, game day concepts and other responsibilities surrounding the men’s basketball program. The Cardinals’ basketball Twitter account more than tripled in his first two years at UofL while social content dramatically expanded.

Lentz arrived at Louisville after working one year as associate athletics director for branding and creative services at Baylor. While at Baylor, Lentz oversaw digital assets, graphic design, video and licensing for the Bears while managing the athletics branding and creative services staff.

Lentz worked two years as the director of creative strategy for Indiana Basketball (2015-17) under head coach Tom Crean after a year as assistant director of media relations (2014-15) when he led the communications efforts for the baseball program while assisting with football. Prior to his time at IU, Lentz was assistant director of digital media at Oklahoma for two years (2012-14), where he helped coordinate digital and social media for the athletics department and football program.

An Indianapolis native, Lentz earned his bachelor’s degree in sport administration at Ball State in 2010 and his master’s degree in sports management at Tennessee in 2012, also working with the Volunteer football team for two years.

He and his wife, Kelly, have two daughters: Adalynn and Madison.