After suffering an ankle injury and missing two games for the Kentucky Wildcats, Lamont Butler was back starting the game against rivals, Louisville Cardinals in his 9th game with the program. Butler single-handedly guided the Wildcats to victory scoring a career-high 33 points and winning  (93-85). His performance was a statement and by no means he looked like someone who had suffered an injury. With this, Kentucky placed fourth in the SEC conference (10-1).

The senior guard proved a great addition for the Wildcats in the 2024-25 season, averaging his career-best 15.1 points and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 60.8% from the field. Here’s everything you need to know about the 22-year-old.

The Making of a High School Star

Born in Moreno Valley, Butler grew up in California around three older sisters, Anaiqua, Amani, and Asasha, all of whom were basketball players. Lamont cultivated a strong connection with the ball early on, attending Riverside Polytechnic High School. He went on to play under coach Yancy Dodson, winning 91 games in his high school career. In his final season there, his team registered a 27-7 record while he earned the Ivy League’s Most Valuable Player honors, helping his team to an unbeaten 12-0.

ESPN rated Lamont as a four-star recruit, while 247Sports.com recognized him as a three-star talent. By the time Butler graduated, he became the all-time leading scorer for the Poly accumulating more than 1800 career points, with 559 assists, 271 steals, and shot .432 from the floor surpassing NBA’s Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. Butler looked promising as a young talent and his future looked bright, having received numerous offers.

Lamont Butler chose San Diego among 15 offers

It is reported that Lamont had offers from about 15 programs, including Washington, Boise State, Harvard, and Colorado. But he would ultimately commit to San Diego State Aztecs in June 2019.

In his freshman season (2020-2021), he played in 28 games starting in only two, averaging 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game that season. Interestingly, Butler was the only freshman to appear in every game that season scoring five times in double figures, registering a season-high 13 points against Utah State, becoming San Deigo State’s only freshman behind Matt Mitchell who scored 17 points at Air Force on Feb. 21, 2018.

The Mountain West honored Butler as a Scholar-Athlete. At the beginning of his sophomore year, Butler had become an integral part of the SDSU team. Starting in 25 of the 27 games that season, the guard averaged 7.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, adding 57 assists and 46 steals throughout the season. He was also added to the Paycom Wooden Legacy All-Tournament Team. While Butler was growing, the team was lacking as a whole.

The San Deigo State turned the tables in the ( 2022-23) season, where the 6’2 guard appeared in 39 games. Starting 38, his average improved to 8.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game, reaching the NCAA Final Four that season where Butler hit two unforgettable game-winning buzzer-beaters—one against New Mexico on February 25 and another in the Final Four against Florida Atlantic on April 1. “It’s unbelievable. It’s what I came here to do,” he had said after the latter.

By the end of his senior year, Butler became only the 38th player in the program’s history to score at least 1000 points, while also becoming only the second player since the start of (1996-97) with 1000 points, 330 assists, 300 rebounds, and 175 steals. However, citing he had nothing much left to do there, Butler turned down six-figure NIL deals to join the Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky’s new era under Mark Pope

Mark Pope himself was a “Blue blood” when he once led the UK to win their sixth national championship while serving as captain in 1996. Ever since then, it was somehow destined that Mark Pope would make his comeback, the only difference was this time he was the coach.

Mark wanted to make their offensive stronger, something which they lacked in the final seasons of John Calipari. There was no better option than Lamont Butler. “Lamont Butler is the definition of a winner,” the new HC said. “He might be the best perimeter defensive player in all of college basketball.”

Well, the 6’2″ guard resonates. He committed to Kentucky knowing his offensive skills would be put to good use by Mark Pope in need of them. “The offense that Coach (Mark) Pope wanted to run was gonna be great to show my abilities,” he said.

Over two months into the 2024-25 season, the Wildcats look great under the new coach. They averaged 91.3 points per game, through the first 11 while Butler went 15.1. Lamont would be looking forward to gluing all his eyes on becoming the offensive player he always wanted to be. As a potential NBA draft surrounds him, he is set on making an impact.