Buttenham (’14) Commits Early To Iowa Hawkeyes

Christina Buttenham (5’11”, G/F, St Mary’s, 2014) of Hamilton, ON has given the University of Iowa a verbal commitment to attend in the Fall of 2014.

The Iowa Hawkeyes Staff and players left Buttenham with a comfortable feeling, which started as soon as the NCAA contact window opened back on September 1, 2012. Their personal touch, was one of the key reasons why she decided that this Big Ten school was the right for her.

“When I went there I just felt very comfortable, the coaches were very welcoming as well as the players. Morgan actually came up to me and said that I could contact her personally and ask her some questions,” she also said of the connection she was able to make with Iowa’s Senior Center, Morgan Johnson, an All-Big Ten Second Team All-Star last season.

She also went on to say that she also enjoyed the facilities and that she felt that she would mesh well with their style of play.

Among the many on-court strengths Buttenham has to her credit, her accuracy as long distance shooter, her quickness and decision-making ability in both a half and open court settingcertainly come to the forefront. In the half court setting she reads defenses well and can thread the needle with accurate passes. In the open court, her ability to make split second decisions on how to complete plays, consistently yields good results.

According to her, experience in refining those particular skills will come in handy with how she feels the Hawkeyes will integrate her into their fold.

“I think they run a very similar offense to what I run in club and high school. There’s some fast break, but they slow it down when they need to or when they’re not able to fast break against a certain team.”

Her decision puts a cap on a very good 2012 for the Guard/Forward. In May, her club team claimed their fifth straight Division 1 Ontario Cup provincial championship. Her summer was also productive. In July, she showed well with Team Ontario U17 as they made stops at the Nike Summer Showcase in Chicago and at the USJN Nationals in Washington, DC. In August, her efforts earned her a Bronze Medal at the FIBA World Cadette Championships in the Netherlands with Team Canada. In November, her St Mary’s Crusaders won their back-to-back Ontario high school 3A (OFSAA) title in Belle River, ON.

With those accomplishments obviously something to be proud of, she then took to her December 1, visit to he University of Iowa campus. It was there that she felt her gut instincts trying to tell her something. It was a feeling she felt inclined to act upon, regardless of how early along in the recruitment process it was for her.

“I had taken some visits and every school that I went to was very nice and very welcoming. But, a lot of people I had talked to about how they made their decision said that they got a certain feeling when they came on campus and, when I had gotten there: it just felt right. My dad wanted to slow it down and take as much time as possible, but right when I visited, even before we had left, when the coaches had [briefly] left us alone to go and do something, I told my parents that I wanted to go there. And, the whole ride home I said the same thing, and ever since my visit I’ve been saying the same too.”

With still some time to narrow down a specific academic path, Buttenham plans on pursuing a Major in one of the Sciences.