Lamont Butler injury update: Mark Pope shares encouraging news on Kentucky star for NCAA Tournament

Lamont Butler is expected to be available for Kentucky in the Wildcats’ first NCAA Tournament matchup next week, per head coach Mark Pope. Butler missed most of UK’s two-game run in the SEC Tournament with a shoulder injury.

Butler suffered his shoulder injury during Thursday’s opening win over OU in the first half and didn’t return. He underwent imaging during the game, Pope said at halftime, leading to concern about whether he aggravated a nagging shoulder issue.

However, ESPN’s Molly McGrath reported that Butler appeared to suffer a different injury this time. At the time, Pope didn’t rule Butler out for the remainder of the SEC tournament but he was unable to suit up against Alabama. Without their primary ball handler, the Crimson Tide would go on to eliminate UK from the conference tournament 99-70.

Kentucky will be thankful to have Butler back on the court, as both Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa has already been ruled out for the season. However, Butler has been right there with them on the injury report down the stretch.

Butler has been dealing with a shoulder injury since January and later missed time due to the issue. He returned in February, but got hurt just two games later before coming back Feb. 26. He was able to play the last four games of the regular season, but didn’t make it through a half in the SEC tournament after suffering his latest ailment.

He scored just two points but logged three assists in eight minutes on the court during the first half before he came out of the game. He averages 11.9 points per game for the Wildcats as Kentucky’s third-leading scorer during the regular season, but has had to miss multiple games during conference play nursing his shoulder injury.

As for what the imaging results said, Mark Pope did not reveal the extent of his injury specifically. However, Pope hinted toward possible good nows — and it appears as though that is the case.

“We got the best possible news about Lamont, so he’s gonna be in good shape but we’re gonna sit him tonight just to make sure,” Pope told reporters. “It would probably be a stretch to get him tonight because he’s got some soreness but it was really good news this morning and so we look forward to having him as we move forward.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.