NEW YORK — Darnell Haney was packing his bag to leave for New York, prepping to serve as a stand-in for Tasha Butts at Big East media day, when his phone rang Monday morning.
Just six months ago, the former Jacksonville University coach fielded another phone call, this one from Butts herself. He figured then that the new Georgetown coach was calling about one of his assistants, ready to offer a position on her staff.
She was offering a position — only to Haney himself. He and his wife, Aaliyah, didn’t need to think long about the offer. Haney and Butts knew each other only a little bit, mostly from the recruiting trail. But he felt a connection with the woman often described as a force of nature. “Aligned’’ is the word he uses over and over.
It’s that same alignment that guided Haney on Monday, through Tuesday, and he suspects will shape him for the next months to come. The phone call he took around 8:15 Monday morning gutted him, learning that the 41-year-old Butts had died of breast cancer. Yet he instinctively knew what she would want him to do. All of the Hoyas did.
We’re starting @bigeast media day #tashatough
Coach Tasha is always with us 💙 #tashatoughtuesday #earnednevergiven #hoyasaxa #bemediaday pic.twitter.com/C5g2Yk63NP
— Georgetown WBB…
