Cooper Neese, one of the state’s top all-time high school scorers, will transfer from Butler before the start of his freshman season.

Neese, who scored 2,496 points at Cloverdale to rank No. 7 on the IHSAA career scoring list, made the Butler coaches aware of his decision Sunday morning. Neese had been recruited by Chris Holtmann, but said the transition to new Butler coach Lavall Jordan was not necessarily the reason for his departure.

“First and foremost, it has nothing to do with the coaches,” Neese said. “The coaches are great people. Honestly, it was for my own sake and future and looking for a place where I can excel. I think I need to find a place where I can do basketball and academics. I found some of those things here.”

Neese, a 6-4 shooting guard, was one of four finalists for IndyStar Mr. Basketball after he averaged 27.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and shot 118-for-309 (38.2 percent) from the 3-point line. Neese committed to Butler in December of 2015 and reaffirmed his commitment in June after Holtmann left for Ohio State and Jordan was hired as his replacement.

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Neese said there was not one specific thing that led to his decision.

“It was just a buildup thing from day one,” he said. “It’s definitely different (when a new coach is hired), but that’s not the main reason. It’s not what I committed to but there were a lot of good things going on. It wasn’t like it was a week thing, but more of a two- or three-month buildup.”

Neese said he thought about sticking it out for his freshman season or at least a semester. He said he has not thought yet about a potential transfer spot.

“I definitely want to thank the Butler community and coaches,” he said. “The school is definitely prestigious.”

Ball State, Evansville and Indiana State were among Neese’s other scholarship offers when he committed early in his junior season.

"We wish Cooper all the best moving forward," Jordan said a in release on Sunday afternoon. "He expressed to me that he didn't think Butler and our program were a fit for him, and he wanted to make this move before the season began.

"I'm excited about the group of guys in our locker room and the season ahead. We will continue to work hard each and every day with the goal of reaching the potential our team has collectively."

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.