Lamont Butler calls his time at Kentucky 'a dream come true'

Lamont Butler‘s college career finished in the Sweet 16 when Kentucky lost to Tennessee. The Final Four hero for San Diego State in 2023, Butler played in 158 total college basketball games across five years.

Butler ultimately spent four seasons at SDSU and one at UK. During the Wildcats’ postgame press conference aftert the Sweet 16, he thanked Kentucky head coach Mark Pope for bringing him to Lexington for his final season of eligibility.

“I would say it’s incredible, man,” Butler said of his time at Kentucky. “We came in, nobody not knowing each other, really no coaching staff, and we built something that was really great, really inspiring for other people. To even play at Kentucky is a dream come true for myself and a lot of guys up here. We’re grateful for him to bring us here and to bring us something that we may not have experienced before this year and really, just really grateful, honestly.”

Butler wasn’t able to play a complete season for the Wildcats due to a couple of nagging injuries keeping him sidelined for a handful of matchups. Most notably, he missed six games during SEC play. Injuries would end up being a trend for not only Butler but the team as a whole this past season.

Still, he was able to average 11.4 points per game on a 49.8% field goal percentage, as well as a team-high 4.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds during the season as Kentucky’s primary ball handler.

“I think it’s really cool we were able to set the culture for Pope’s first year,” Butler said to finish off the press conference. “And people have to come in and the bar going to be set high for the next people who come under Pope. It’s gonna be fun to watch for sure.”

Pope has already gotten to work recruiting in the transfer portal since the Wildcats’ season ended. Tulane transfer Kam Williams, who On3 rates as the No. 35 overall player in his year’s transfer portal rankings, as well as the No. 4 small forward. True to Mark Pope’s style of play, he shoots 41% from the 3-point line.

As Kentucky gets its offseason into full swing, it’ll have to rebuild its roster once again as the Wildcats are set to lose most of their production from last season. As Butler said, this season’s squad has laid the groundwork for the Wildcats who will come after him.