Just in case you missed it, Kentucky Basketball received another commitment yesterday afternoon. Big Blue Nation started speculating once again early in the morning when members of Kentucky's coaching staff appeared to be heading out west to "lock down another player" as the head coach put out publicly.
There were a lot of different names floating around on who the coaching staff could potentially be meeting with but this one was somewhat of a surprise. The player Mark Pope was referencing to was San Diego State guard, Lamont Butler.
The 6'2" point guard from Moreno Valley, California spent the last four seasons at San Diego State University as he was a part of the 2020 class. Butler was a 3-star and a top-250 prospect who held offers from several schools during his recruitment, some which included Harvard, Saint Mary's, Washington, Boise State, Colorado, and Pepperdine among others.
“Lamont Butler is the definition of a winner,” Pope said. “He might be the best perimeter defensive player in all of college basketball. Lamont has helped lead championship teams for the last four years and hit one of the most epic shots in the NCAA Tournament to send his team to the championship game.
“He is an elite student who takes his academics seriously. He cares about the community and will embrace the power of wearing ‘Kentucky’ across the front of his chest. I’m extremely excited to coach Lamont and to see the influence he’s going to have on this team.”
Butler worked his way up the ladder from his freshman season in 2020-21 to his senior season in 2023-24. In his freshman season, he still managed to play in 28 games and averaged 4.3 points per game on 40% shooting. Fast forward to Butler's junior season with the Aztecs, he went from only playing 12 minutes a game to averaging about 26 minutes a game and went from 4.3 points per game to 8.8 with a 42% shooting percentage.
Butler helped lead the Aztecs to the national championship game where they eventually fell to the UCONN Huskies. In order to do that Butler had to take it upon himself with seconds remaining in the Final Four matchup against the Florida Atlantic Owls. San Diego State found themselves down one point with seconds remaining and this is how Butler handled the pressure.
No, Butler isn't the biggest name in the transfer portal or even the flashiest pickup but overall he is very solid. He has what Kentucky needs this upcoming season, experience. Butler isn't going to be the point guard looking to score on every possession, but he will make everyone around him better by his leadership. He is a defensive guard by nature but as you can tell from the video above, if you need a guy to get you a bucket in clutch situations he can do that as well. Overall a very good get for Mark Pope and the rest of the staff.