Kentucky's Kerr Kriisa has arrived in Lexington; Lamont Butler visits

Kerr Kriisa has officially arrived in Lexington as he begins preparation for the 2024-25 college basketball season.

After transferring over from West Virginia earlier in the offseason, Kriisa moved into his new home for the next year on Sunday. The 6-foot-3 point guard was greeted by Kentucky associate coach Mark Pope, who helped Kriisa find his way around his dorm inside the Wildcat Coal Lodge.

The two also popped across the street (and through the ongoing Memorial Coliseum construction) to check out the Joe Craft Center, where Kriisa will be practicing over the next several months. He brought his golf clubs along too. The native of Estonia is going to need some recommendations on the best place in town to play a round of 18.

Welcome to your new Kentucky home, @KerrKriisa. pic.twitter.com/jwlZrEExED

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 2, 2024

Kriisa was officially announced as a Kentucky Wildcat on May 2. He spent his first three seasons of college basketball playing at Arizona before suiting up at West Virginia this past season. With one more year of eligibility remaining, he opted for the ‘Cats — much to Mark Pope’s pleasure.

One of nine incoming transfers for Pope this offseason, Kriisa figures to play a significant role in 2024-25 for Kentucky. He averaged 11 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 33.4 minutes per outing for the Mountaineers last season on shooting splits of 42.9/44.4/77.5.

Kriisa was actually in Lexington a few weeks ago for a visit but didn’t officially move in until this weekend.

San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler is also in Lexington

But by the looks of it, Lamont Butler is also in Lexington, but he’s only visiting. Butler’s dad, Lamont Butler Sr., posted to social media a few pictures of his son’s photoshoot from inside the Kentucky locker room with the caption “Great visit at Kentucky!!!!!!”. The younger Butler recently removed his name from the 2024 NBA Draft pool, indicating that he’ll play for the Wildcats in 2024-25.

The blue and white suits him well, too.

prayed for times like this 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/ZyJg0W7yW3

— Lamont Butler (@lamont_butler1) June 2, 2024

This past season, Butler averaged 9.3 points, three assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 27.5 minutes per outing for San Diego State. He shot 42.1 percent overall, 30.2 percent from deep, and 59.4 percent from the line while starting all 37 games played.

Butler, a 6-foot-2 guard, was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year this past season by the coaches and also won the award in 2023 from the media. He’s a three-time MWC All-Defense Team member. However, he’s best known for hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer during the 2022 Final Four against Florida Atlantic.

Butler and the rest of Kentucky’s roster are expected to join Kriisa on campus by June 10.