2025 Butler Community College Athletics Hall of Fame Class Announced

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Community College athletics department is set to induct its 2025 Hall of Fame Class on Saturday, Feb. 15th, a group of four that have left a lasting mark on Grizzly athletics. 

Former Grizzly softball head coach Doug Chance, softball All-American Brynn Minor, track and field legend Melvin Lister and longtime NFL football defensive back Kwamie Lassiter will join the Grizzly Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place between games at Butler basketball's next home doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 15th. The women's game tips off at 2 p.m. with the ceremony to follow.

Doug Chance (Softball, 2005-2022)

Entering the NJCAA Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame earlier in 2024, Chance will now enter the Butler Athletics Hall of Fame after leading the program to back-to-back national championships in 2016 and 2017. Chance amassed an overall record of 772-177, a win percentage of 81%. During that time his teams went 316-32 in KJCCC play and never lost more than five conference games in a season. He got to the National Tournament 12 times in 18 seasons. His teams won 14 KJCCC titles and laid claim to the title the final 11-seasons of his tenure. Butler won 12 Region VI titles over 18-seasons under Chance. Not only did his teams achieve success on the diamond but also in the classroom. All but one year of Chance's career his teams had a cumulative 3.0+ grade point average and in 2019 the team was the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year with a 3.65 team GPA. Butler won 88 consecutive games over the course of the 2016-17 seasons, a record that still holds as the best across all divisions of college softball. Chance was the Jayhawk Coach of the Year 13 times and coached 33 NJCAA All-Americans, three national players of the year and six conference players of the year. Chance retired from his post following the 2022 season.

Kwamie Lassiter (Football, 1989-90)

The late Kwamie Lassiter (1969-2019) spent two seasons in a Butler Community College football uniform and will be joining the second Hall of Fame in his storied career after being induced to the 2021 NJCAA Football Hall of Fame Class previously. He was a two-year starter at defensive back helping the Grizzlies to an 18-6 record across his two seasons, picking up RC Cola Bowl and East Bowl championships playing for head coach Tom Saia. In 1990, Lassiter picked up KJCCC First Team All-Conference honors as well as NJCAA and JC Gridwire All-American honors. Lassiter went on to play at the University of Kansas where he was a two-year starter and ended his career with seven total interceptions and was named a 1994 Second Team All-Big 8 selection. In 1995 he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent. He went on to enjoy a 10-year playing career in the NFL playing in 129 games. Lassiter finished his career with 609 tackles, 25 interceptions and four sacks. He tallied eight interceptions in 1998 and nine in 2001, both with the Cardinals. He intercepted four passes vs. the Chargers in 1998 which is still tied for the NFL record. Lassiter was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2001 after finishing with 112 tackles and nine interceptions. Lassiter established the Lassiter T.A.C.K.L.E. (Teaching All Children to Kickoff Leadership in Education) Foundation in 1999 to provide books for college students, school, and physical education supplies for Title I students. In 2012, he established the Kwamie Lassiter Foundation to raise awareness of Sickle Cell Anemia and childhood cancer. From 2009 until his death, Lassiter was president of the NFL Alumni chapter in Arizona. The Lassiter name runs deep at Butler as son Kwinton (2019-20) and nephew Darius (2019-21) played for Butler football with both moving on to the FBS level with Kwinton at Kansas and Darius at BYU. Lassiter's wife Ericka will be in attendance on Kwamie's behalf for the induction.

Melvin Lister (Track and Field, 1997-98)

Lister, a Leavenworth, Kan., native, graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1996 and enrolled at Butler as a track and field student-athlete. He went on to win five individual national championships with the Grizzlies across his two seasons (1997-98), with two more national championships as part of Grizzly distance medley relay squads. He claimed the indoor and outdoor long jump titles as a freshman in 1997 with a best of 25-9.5. As a sophomore in 1998 Lister won the indoor long jump (26-05.00) and triple jumps (53-08.50) as well as the outdoor triple jump (50'09.5). Lister was not only a force in the jumps as he served as the anchor on the distance-medley relay that claimed indoor national titles in 1997 and 1998 for the Grizzlies. Lister moved on to the University of Arkansas following the stellar career with Butler and the success did not stop there. As a Razorback, Lister was an eight-time All- American and one of the most accomplished jumpers in school history, being inducted into the Arkansas Razorbacks Hall of Honor in 2017. In 2000, Lister won the Olympic Trials long jump, jumping 8.32/27-3.75, qualifying for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Lister placed seventh in the long jump and won the triple jump at the 2004 Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. It was his first triple jump win at the Olympic Trials after winning the long jump at the trials in 2000. His winning triple jump at the 2004 Trials of 17.78m/58-4 remains an Olympic Trials record. Lister has won national championships on the high school, junior college, collegiate and elite levels. During the summer of 2024, Lister was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Brynn Minor (Softball, 2016-17)

Minor spent two seasons in El Dorado, racking up an impressive amount of hardware through her two years as a Grizzly. She was named the Betty Jo Graber NJCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year, NJCAA DI Softball Player of the Year, an NFCA First Team All-American, KJCCC Most Valuable Player, an NJCAA All-Tournament Team selection, a First Team All-American in her sophomore season and most importantly, won two national championships. She was also named the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission's Female Junior College Athlete of the Year twice. Minor pitched and hit both seasons. In the circle she held a 1.03 career ERA across 149.0 innings pitched. She struck out 143 compared to just 23 walks, totaling a 17-0 record across two seasons. At the plate Minor hit .497 as a sophomore with a .541 on-base percentage, slugging 1.158. She racked up 91 hits as a sophomore including 30 home runs and 97 RBI. The 30 home runs is first all-time at Butler in a single-season as her name is scattered across the Butler records for both hitting and pitching records. In 2017, Minor played at the Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia where she helped the NJCAA All-Stars to a 6-6 record. Minor went on to play at the University of Kansas where she played in 64 games in the Crimson and Blue. She was named a Big 12 All-Academic First Team selection before graduating in December of 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Education, Exercise Science. Minor was also inducted into the NJCAA Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2024. She is currently the assistant director of fastpitch for Building Champions Fast Pitch out of Olathe.