“She’s going to shoot 300 3s this year,” Hillsman said. “She’s going to make over 100 3s this year. That’s just what she does.”

At William Penn Charter (Pennsylvania) School, Butler focused on repetition and perfected her jump shot so that there was little variation in her shooting off the dribble or on a step back 3-pointer, former Penn Charter head coach Diana Caramanico said.

A silent assassin, as Caramanico describes her, Butler would brandish a slight twinkle in her eye with each big shot made.

The 5-foot-11 guard started all 32 games her freshman season at SU, but it was the next year that she came into her own. Two hundred ninety-two threes rained down from Butler’s hands. One hundred of them went in — eclipsing the previous single season school record by nearly 30.

But the notoriety came at a cost. After the standout season, defenders covered Butler tighter around the 3-point line for her junior year. Instead of one defender, it was two, or sometimes three running at her with their hands in the air, yelling “shooter.”

The previous year’s leading scorer, Sykes, wasn’t there to draw attention away from Butler and the pressure led to more misses than anyone on the team.

Assistant coach Vonn Read looked at plays run for legendary NBA shooters Ray Allen and Reggie Miller to draw inspiration from to get Butler open. But 35 minutes on the floor each game, many of them spent running around screens, was taxing.

For the first time in her career, Butler spent this summer in Syracuse, in part, to work in the gym and weight room. She focused on conditioning, being able to shoot when she’s tired and shooting with defenders in her face. At home, gym time is hard to come by, her mother said.

Already, in practice, forward Taylor Ford has noticed a quicker release on Butler’s shots. Ford will think she has Butler guarded, but then she’ll shoot before Ford even realizes she’s open.

This year’s squad has more depth, Hillsman said, which will allow Butler more time on the bench to rest her legs, allowing for her to make 10-12 more 3s.

If not, her conditioning has gone from “pretty good” to the next level, Read said.

“(She’s) saying, ‘You know what? You can work me all day, but just like a Ray Allen or a Reggie Miller, we’re going to be in the type of shape that we need to be in to be able to make shots,’” Read said.

Read said he thinks Butler will be an All-Atlantic Coast Conference player. She has a shot at cracking the top 10 in all-time scoring for SU and taking the crown for 3s made in a career, regardless if she even knows how many she’s made.

“You come in here as a shooter and you leave as the best shooter,” Hillsman said. “There’s not getting better than that.”