Powell Adds 3 Members of His Coaching Staff

Editor: The following is part of a press release from ValpoAthletics.com. 

(Valparaiso, IN) –  University men’s basketball head coach Roger Powell Jr. has announced the first three members of his coaching staff as Pat Baldwin and Matt Gordon will serve as assistant coaches, while Kylen Butler joins the staff as special assistant to the head coach.

Pat Baldwin

Baldwin brings head coaching experience to the Valpo bench as he spent five seasons as the head coach at Milwaukee before serving as an assistant coach under Patrick Ewing at Georgetown this past season. He has also worked under Chris Collins as an assistant coach during a successful run at Northwestern, so he has recent stops in the Big Ten and Big East to go along with his head coaching experience.

“I am very humbled and excited to lock arms with Coach Powell here at Valpo,” Baldwin said. “His enthusiasm and passion for this program are very clear. Valpo has a great tradition of winning. I’m looking forward to winning with a great person like Coach Powell. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

Prior to Milwaukee, Baldwin spent four seasons as a key member of Collins’ Northwestern staff. The Wildcats increased their win total in each of his four years there. In his final season on staff at his alma mater, Northwestern shattered a program record with 24 wins and achieved the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.

“It was very important for me to have a former head coach on my staff,” Powell said. “In addition to head-coaching experience, Coach Baldwin brings a high level of playing experience from his time at Northwestern. He also has coaching experience in the NCAA Tournament as he was on staff for Northwestern’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. All of those attributes that he brings to the table will be extremely valuable to me as I attack my first head coaching job.”

The 1994 Northwestern graduate was a three-year captain and etched his name in the program record book in numerous locations. He owns all three program records for steals – single game (nine), single season (90) and career (272). He ranks third in program history in assists (452) and fourth in single-season free-throw percentage (.880). He scored 1,189 career points and was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

The Leavenworth, Kan. native played professionally in Bosnia and Croatia before joining the coaching ranks. Baldwin and his wife Shawn, a former Northwestern volleyball player, have four children – Patrick Jr., Tatum, Brooke and Claire. Patrick Jr. plays in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors.

Gordon and Butler

Gordon comes to Northwest Indiana after a stint in the Big 12 Conference as he spent the last two years at Oklahoma as Director of Recruiting and Special Assistant to head coach Porter Moser. He joined Moser in Norman, Okla. after they previously worked together for a decade at Loyola Chicago. Gordon was an assistant coach for his last seven seasons with the Ramblers after spending the first three as Director of Basketball Operations.

“I got to know Coach Powell and I think he’s an unbelievable leader, an unbelievable motivator and an unbelieve winner,” Gordon said. “You want to surround yourself with people who have won. I’ve experienced winning in this league at Loyola. I’ve seen the type of players with the character and talent that it takes to win in this league. I’m really excited to join Coach Powell’s staff. I love his vision for where this is headed. Valparaiso represents a lot of the values and beliefs of how I was raised. It’s an unbelievable university with great proximity to great recruiting bases, and I think this place has a chance to be at the top of The Valley and right back into the national spotlight very soon.”

“I’m thrilled to bring Coach Gordon back to the Missouri Valley Conference,” Powell said. “His experience and proven track record of winning in our league is going to be a tremendous asset as we build the Valpo program back to the level of success that I want to achieve and beyond.”

A 2006 Illinois State graduate, Gordon began his basketball career with three seasons as the head student manager for the Redbirds when Moser was the head coach in Bloomington-Normal. He also served as ISU’s video coordinator. Gordon is married to his wife, Kate.

Butler spent the last two seasons as the Director of Recruiting for head coach Bryce Drew’s staff at Grand Canyon University. While in Phoenix, he assisted with all aspects of the program’s recruiting efforts.

“My previous relationship with Coach Powell was a big factor in my decision to come to Valpo,” Butler said. “The opportunity to be a part of restoring this program’s proud tradition is exciting. I enjoyed getting to hear President Padilla, Dr. Small and Coach Powell explain their vision for our program and this University. It was a lot of alignment and a lot of prayer that led me to realize this was the right move for my career.”

“I’ve been mentoring Kylen for years,” Powell said. “I value the relationships he forms with players, and he’s coming from GCU, where he was part of a staff that has had success. He’s young and hungry. He’s a worker; he’s going to be a huge asset to developing this program. I see a lot of myself when I was first starting out in Kylen.”

Additional members of the coaching staff will be announced soon.