Rwandan center Hope Butera has joined the Idaho Vandals women's basketball team, an outfit that represents the University of Idaho in women's basketball in the Big Sky Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The 22-year-old has been in the United States for studies for some time and has played for several college teams. Announcing her addition, Vandal’s coach Carrie Eighmey said Butera is “a great addition” who brings strength and physicality to the team. Her size and strength will be a huge advantage for us in the paint on both ends of the floor. We like her ability to score back-to-the-basket or off the bounce from outside the paint,” Eighmey said. “She also embraces physicality which allows her to be a monster on the boards. We can't wait to see her in a Vandal uniform! he added. Butera joins the Vandals after two seasons at Florida International University which she joined after two more years with South Georgia Tech. She finished her undergraduate career after two seasons at FIU. In her two seasons, Butera appeared in 62 games, scoring 182 points, and grabbing 278 rebounds. During her final season at FIU, Butera was a defensive force, leading the Panthers with 181 rebounds on the season. She played in every game for the Panthers while making 19 starts, averaging 19.8 minutes per game. She shot 44.4% from the field, going 55-124 on attempts, and shot 57.1% from the free throw line converting on 32 of 56 attempts. She scored a career-high 21 points against Bradley going 7-11 from the field and 7-9 from the charity line. The forward also grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds against Louisiana Tech with five offensive and 10 defensive rebounds. In her first season as a Panther, Butera appeared in 29 games and made two starts averaging 11.8 minutes per game. She shot 44.4% from the field (20-45) and 71.4% from the line (20-28). Butera averaged 3.3 rebounds per game and blocked six shots during the season while scoring 60 points for the Panthers. Before FIU, she spent two seasons at South Georgia Tech at the JUCO level. At South Georgia Tech, Butera appeared in 57 games making six starts. The power forward tallied 277 rebounds, 21 assists, 25 blocks, and 259 points in her time as a Lady Jet. In her sophomore year, Butera shot 53.5% (53-99) from the field and 64.9% (24-37) from the line. This was an improvement from her freshman season where she shot 48.0% (49-102) from the field and 60.8% (31-51) from the line. Defensively, Butera averaged 6.1 rebounds per game in her sophomore season and 3.8 in her freshman season. Besides playing for the Rwanda national team currently, Butera has previously featured for junior national teams, for example in 2016 where she was part of Rwanda’s U18 women basketball team that finished fourth at the FIBA U-18 Women’s African Championships.
