Butler to hire Aiden Albert, former Knoch assistant, as next boys basketball coach
Seventeen years ago, Butler took a gamble on a first-time head coach to lead its boys basketball program.
The Golden Tornado won a WPIAL championship, made three district finals and 14 playoff appearances and went 248-148 under Matt Clement.
They are going back to the well and are naming a first-time head coach in Aiden Albert to once again lead the team, athletic director Bill Mylan said.
Albert was offered the job and accepted Friday, June 5. He will take over for one of the most recognized names in Butler athletics history, who not only led the boys basketball team to success over nearly two decades but was an All-Star pitcher in Major League Baseball and a former standout Tornado athlete, as well.
Clement resigned in April and remains the pitching coach for the Tornado baseball team that’s reached just its second PIAA semifinal after a walk-off double by his son, Mavrik Clement.
“Oh, of course (there’s pressure replacing Clement),” Albert said Friday afternoon. “If you look at what he did at his tenure there. … His coaching career alone speaks volumes. … I’m ready to take that head on and hopefully find some success early here.”
Mylan said Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White approved the hire and informed the school board Friday morning of the decision. Albert’s confirmation is anticipated at a future board meeting.
Mylan said he fielded 14 applicants and interviewed six. Albert’s basketball knowledge, passion and enthusiasm stood out during the process.
“He stood out a little bit more than some other people,” Mylan said, acknowledging the program’s hiring history unprompted. “You have to look back … we hired Matt many, many years ago, (and) he had no coaching experience.”
Albert comes with a coaching background.
His father, Sam, is a “legendary” football coach, per Mylan, who was a head coach for 31 total seasons while going 160-153-1 with stops at Valley, Freeport, Highlands and Kiski Area before resigning from the latter in 2025 after eight seasons.
Albert served as an assistant coach under his father and alongside his brother at Kiski for five seasons, then was an assistant last season for Butler’s football team under Eric Christy. The Tornado won the most games in a season in nearly three decades last fall.
Albert was also an assistant with Knoch boys basketball this season, helping Joe Lafko lead the Knights to their first WPIAL title. He was also on the staff at Avonworth under Joe Frank and at Highlands.
“The perception’s out there, Matt’s had our program at such an elite level for such a long time,” Mylan said, adding he was looking for a candidate with good basketball knowledge and who came from a successful program. “It doesn’t get any more successful than coming from Knoch.”
The 28-year-old — Albert turns 29 next week — is a Knoch graduate who played basketball, football, golf and ran track for the Knights. He was a golfer and primarily a guard at Bethany College (W.Va) before graduating in 2020. He averaged 6.5 career points (8.5 in his last two years) in four seasons with the Bison, about two-and-a-half as a starting point guard, shooting guard and sometimes forward.
“I’ve kind of just been raised up to be a coach,” Albert said, adding his dad is his biggest coaching influence since he served as a ball boy as a kid for Sam years ago. “I’ve had some very successful years. … My basketball knowledge comes from all that and just playing in college and knowing the game.”
He plans to coach a tough man-to-man defense and a spread offense where “we’re taking high-quality shots at a good rate.” Albert will meet the team in the coming weeks, he said. A former four-sport athlete, he wants to encourage multi-sport athletes at Butler and said college coaches “are looking for (them) now.”
Mylan said Albert’s role as an elementary school physical education and health teacher in BASD helps, too, because he’s already in the area and has access to youth athletes who could one day grow into JV and varsity players.
Albert’s youth also will be a plus, Mylan said, as he’ll need to pour in energy into the youth and junior high basketball programs, not just the high school. Albert said he’ll lean on his experience at Knoch, which runs a competitive in-house youth program he praised.
Albert sounded humbled by the opportunity and said he’ll do his best to step up after Clement’s successful tenure. He acknowledged the difficulty in following in those footsteps and wouldn’t promise he’d “live up to the status Matt had,” but said he’s “going to work my tail off” and he expects challenges, especially in WPIAL Section 1-6A.
“I’m just honored that they’re willing to do that,” Albert said.
