Two UT Sport Management Alumni Join UCLA Staff

Two Tennessee Sport Management alumni have joined the staff of UCLA head coach Nikki Caldwell.

Tony Perotti (B.S. 1999) and Tasha Butts (B.S. 2004) have joined first year head coach and former Tennessee assistant coach Caldwell in Los Angeles.

Perotti

Perotti comes to UCLA from Northern Arizona University, where he spent the last four seasons as an assistant. The past two years, he was the associate head coach. Perotti served primarily as the team's recruiting coordinator, game scouting coordinator and in the development of the perimeter players. In his four seasons at NAU, Perotti helped the Lumberjacks compile 71 victories, win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and advance to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament. During his tenure, the team set school records for field goals, points scored, assists, rebounds, three-point shots made and free throw percentage. Guard Sade Cunningham set a school record for career assists. In his first season as an assistant, Perotti not only helped the team to a 19-10 record and third-place conference finish, but served as head coach for three games (2-1) at the end of the season when the head coach was home with a newborn baby.

Perotti came to NAU following five seasons as an assistant coach (1999-2004) at the University of San Francisco. He served as the program's recruiting coordinator in 2000 and 2002-2003. During that period, Perotti helped to successfully sign two Junior College All-Americans, three West Coast Conference Freshmen of the Year, as well as international players from Germany and Denmark. On the court, he worked primarily with the perimeter players and assisted in team offensive and defensive philosophy development and strategies. He also served as summer camp director and completed his master's degree (2001) in sports and fitness management.

Prior to his time at USF, Perotti worked as an office assistant and summer camp coach at Tennessee. He also served as a practice player for two seasons with the Lady Vols. While in Knoxville, Perotti gained coaching experience in 1999 as the co-head coach of the Knoxville Lady Lakers, an 11-and-under AAU team.
Butts, a standout player at the University of Tennessee (2001-04) and then in the WNBA, comes West from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, where she served her first year as a full-time assistant this past season. Butts worked primarily with the perimeter players at Duquesne, and her responsibilities included recruiting, opponent scouting, academics, adidas liaison and scheduling.

Butts

As a player at Tennessee, Butts helped to lead the Lady Vols to a 124-17 record in her four seasons. UT had a Sweet 16 appearance in her freshman season and advanced to the Final Four in her sophomore campaign. She then helped the Lady Vols to back-to-back National Championship games in her junior and senior seasons. In addition, Butts was a part of four Southeastern Conference regular-season championship teams, as Tennessee compiled a 55-1 record in her four years. When she left UT, she ranked fourth in all-time games played (141) and tied for seventh in three-point shots made (103). Butts' career-high 37 points against Vanderbilt on Feb. 16, 2004 placed her tied for 11th on the Lady Vols' single-game scoring list.

Butts was chosen by the Minnesota Lynx with the 20th selection in the 2004 WNBA draft. She saw action in all 30 games as a rookie, helping the club equal a franchise-record with 18 wins and earn a spot in the playoffs. Following the 2004 WNBA season, she returned to her alma mater and served as a graduate assistant coach. In the fall of 2005, she headed overseas, where she played for Essa/Barreiro in Portugal, averaging nearly 18 points per game. After one season with Essa, she moved on to Raanana Hertzliya in Israel, where she averaged 15.5 points per contest. She also then had brief stints with the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets of the WNBA.