Lamont Butler and Mark Pope discuss Butler's game with "SEC Now"

Lamont Butler and Mark Pope shared some laughs when they told “SEC Now” about how they finally linked up at Kentucky for Butler’s final season of college basketball. Sharing the SEC Network stage in Birmingham, Butler and Pope recalled Pope begging Butler to be his point guard at Kentucky after Pope coached against Butler the last three seasons.

“Finally, I get to coach him,” said Pope at the SEC Tipoff in Birmingham. “I’m so excited.”

Butler took a leap of faith, committing to Pope early in Pope’s time on the job in Lexington when the roster was empty.

“When I came in, there was nobody on the team,” Butler joked on Tuesday. He said Pope recruited him to lead, to which Pope interjected: “For a couple of days, he was leading himself.”

“He is the best defensive point guard in the country.”

Pope wanted Lamont Butler for his leadership, winning experience, and defense. Pope believes there is no one better than Butler at the latter.

“He’s the best defensive point guard in the country,” Pope said of Butler. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I’ve never seen a guy cross-body pick people like he does; it’s crazy. We had to study it for three straight years because we had to try to find somebody to protect the ball.

“But you know, you think about him as a playmaker and a physical defender and a shot-maker–right now, he’s shooting the ball incredibly well for us–but, yeah, his DNA is as a winner… when you have guys leading your team like that, you sleep really well at night.”

Watch Lamont Butler, Mark Pope on “SEC Now: SEC Tipoff”

[SEC Now]