Kentucky basketball hires new video coordinator Kevin Butty

Kentucky basketball is putting the finishing touches on its staff for the 2023-24 season. While the Wildcats do return many of the faces on its bench from a year ago, an NCAA rule change and a couple of departures gave John Calipari a chance to add some talented new names to the mix for this coming season.

The latest addition is a new video coordinator named Kevin Butty, who has a diverse and experienced hoops background. UK announced his hiring on Monday morning on their athletics website:

“The Kentucky men’s basketball team has added Kevin Butty to its staff as the team’s video coordinator. Butty will join the Wildcats after stints with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Los Angeles Lakers and San Diego State.”

As part of the post, UK provided some quotes from John Calipari and Butty himself on the move.

“Kevin comes to us highly recommended as an up-and-comer in this business,” Calipari said of Butty. “His background with San Diego State, the Lakers and Rockets organizations brings a great point of view. He has all of the skills to advance our video scouting and player development through video. I’m excited about what he brings to help elevate that area of our program.”

Butty is obviously excited about the new gig as well.

“I’m extremely grateful to be joining the Kentucky basketball program and working under a Hall of Fame coach in Coach Calipari,” Butty said. “Coach Cal is one of the most respected coaches in all of basketball and it will be an honor to assist him on an everyday basis. I’m excited to join the prestigious Kentucky family and get to work.”

Kevin Butty was last working with the Vipers as their video coordinator, and had previous roles with the Lakers and San Diego State. While he wasn’t on staff this past year with the Aztecs when they made the national title game, he was there during the school’s best regular season in program history back in 2020, when SDSU finished 30-2 before their chance at an NCAA tourney run was wiped away by COVID.

Overall, the young Butty seems to have experience and promise, which is perfect in a video coordinator. And he joins a couple of other offseason staff additions for UK, including John Welch, the father of former Kentucky walk-on and grad assistant Riley Welch, as well as Chuck Martin, a longtime Calipari pal who was previously at Oregon.