Lamont Butler will be a 'non-contact' participant in Thursday's practice

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Jan 18, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler (1) celebrates during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

How soon will Kentucky get Lamont Butler back in the lineup? Head coach Mark Pope said during his radio call-in show Wednesday the starting point guard was “making progress” with his rehab but did not disclose a timetable for a return.

During his weekly meeting with the media on Thursday, Pope provided a bit more insight into Butler’s status as we’re less than 48 hours from another game. Butler will be a non-contact participant in today’s practice session. Kentucky is set to face South Carolina (10-12; 0-9 SEC) on Saturday at noon EST on ESPN2.

“He’s gonna move around on the court, non-contact a little bit today,” Pope said. “And we’ll just kind of see how it is tomorrow. I don’t know exactly when (his return is) gonna be. I really don’t. We’ll kind of vibe it out.”

This is the most concrete update on Butler’s return we’ve heard from Pope since the shoulder injury began to hold him out of games. Butler has sat out the previous three contests for Kentucky, including the back-to-back losses against Arkansas and Ole Miss. His impact on both ends of the floor has been desperately missed.

“We’re kinda taking in the data every day as it comes and making game-time decisions every day on what the next step is,” Pope added. “But he is going to be on the court in a non-contact situation today and we’ll see how that feels.”

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What Pope doesn’t want to do with Butler is rush him back too quickly. He was careful with how he handled Andrew Carr’s back injury, which has steadily improved over time. Carr saw 23 minutes of action earlier this week against Ole Miss, his most playing time since Jan. 14, and is nearing back to full health.

“I would like to get (Butler) back in a position where we have the next chance of not having another setback,” Pope said.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry with someone as important to this team’s long-term success as Butler. The fifth-year floor general is averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 26.6 minutes per outing in 17 games this season.