Coastal Carolina men's basketball head coach Justin Gray announced two additions to the team's staff, with Kylen Butler joining as an assistant coach and Josh Spainhour as director of sports performance.
Butler joins the Chanticleers after serving as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois for the past two seasons, while Spainhour comes to Conway after spending the two previous seasons in the same position at East Tennessee State.
"We are excited to have Kylen and Josh join Teal Nation," Gray said. "Kylen is young, innovative and ambitious. He has a remarkable eye for talent and a bright future ahead of him. He's going to make an immediate impact on our program.
"Josh brings the same enthusiasm as Kylen. He's very detailed, professional, and thorough in his approach to his craft. He has worked with some of the top programs in the country, and we are excited about the experience he will bring to the beach. More importantly, he can connect with the student-athletes to help them reach their potential."
Before earning his first assistant coaching position at EIU, Butler served as the director of recruiting for two years at Grand Canyon University. He helped assemble a roster that won 47 games over two seasons and won the 2023 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship to reach the NCAA Tournament. He also spent one season (2020-21) as the director of basketball operations at Cal State Fullerton after working as a graduate assistant at Clemson (2019-20) and the University of Indianapolis (2018-19).
Butler began his collegiate playing career at Wallace State Community College before transferring to Tusculum and later Indianapolis for his senior year. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Indianapolis.
Spainhour comes to Coastal Carolina following stints at Wake Forest, Kansas State and Miami (Fla.) in addition to his most recent position at ETSU. Last season, he trained Southern Conference (SoCon) Player of the Year Quimari Peterson and Defensive Player of the Year Karon Boyd. The year before joining the Bucs, Spainhour helped train ACC Player of the Year Tyree Appleby at Wake Forest.
He also aided the development of a pair of Elite 8 teams at Miami (2022) and Kansas State (2023).
Spainhour played basketball at Guilford College from 2013-14 before transferring to UNCW and earning a bachelor's degree in physical education and health. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA).
