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As soon as Lamont Butler went into the transfer portal, Kentucky coach Mark Pope was all over the 6-2 point guard.
“Every time we played San Diego State, we spent the first 48 hours trying to figure out how we were going to not let him take our ball on every single possession. And literally, I lost so much sleep on that and then competing against him,” Pope said about facing Butler when he was coaching at BYU.”
Now Butler is going to be remembered for a long time by Kentucky fans after scoring 33 points in a win over Louisville that earned him national player of the week honors.
“If you get to put your name solidly in the all-time history books at the University of Kentucky. I mean, that’s hard to do,” Pope said on his radio show. “And certainly, Lamont did it for sure in a magical way.”
Remember earlier this year Jackson State coach Mo Williams talked about also being impressed with Butler when he watched him play at San Diego State.
“He came from a defensive background at his previous school, so that did not change. And I think when you have a point guard that can (defend) that’s the head of the snake, and he’s aggressive on that ball, making plays for his teammates,” Williams said. “He has a really good body, and has a really great pace about himself.
“That’s the only way you can go deep in the tournament with a point guard, along with their length and their shooting ability.”
6 Responses
Coach Pope never had to worry about players moving on to the NBA when he was at BYU, they just weren’t good enough to do so. Those were the kids who would stay 4 years and those were the kids who would play for the name on the front of the jersey, even if it was BYU, instead of the name on the back of the jersey. Now that he is at Kentucky, Pope needs to realize that 5 star kids will not play Pope ball. They will want to standout for the NBA scouts and go pro after one year. It will be rare for him to find 5 star talent that will put winning championships for Kentucky over their own NBA dreams…not impossible, but rare.
Pope should focus his recruiting on local kids who already bleed blue, like Trent Noah, who most likely will never play in the NBA but will play their hearts out for Kentucky. These are the kids who will be coachable and will be willing to play Pope ball. Sure, everyone will say they want to win championships for Kentucky to get a scholarship here, but if they are seniors with one year left to play on the UK stage, the temptation to play Calipari ball to impress the NBA scouts will be huge…maybe too huge. Pope will need kids who will stick around at least 3 years. Those kids will learn to play Pope ball and in the heat of battle in a game will still play Pope ball. Those are the kids Pope can win championships with.
These kids don’t all have to be from Kentucky, but they have to grow up being Kentucky fans. They need to know who Adolph Rupp, Joe Hall, and Rick Pitino were. They have to know that Kentucky once dominated the SEC and almost always was in the talk for a national title. They have to know that BBN wants to see Kentucky catch and pass UCLA in national titles won, They have to know that BBN wants Kentucky to never again give up the title of the winningest men’s basketball team in college basketball. These are kids who will get degrees and become doctors, lawyers, bankers, and engineers…a few will go on and play in the NBA and have stellar careers, but most will be telling their grandchildren about the SEC and NCAA titles that they won while wearing the Kentucky uniform.
I am not sure if Pope has realized this, but he will after this season. Butler is the most likely kid to go to the NBA and I don’t think he is going to give that up, neither will Oweh and the ball is in their hands most of the time bringing the ball up the court. Brea, Robinson, and Almonor would benefit the most from playing Pope ball because you can’t face guard a guy who is constantly moving off of screens. Carr would also benefit from it if he will start shooting 3s.
Our first 5 SEC games will tell us which direction this team is going to go in. Regardless of the outcome of this season, Pope needs to focus his recruiting on kids who bleed blue and will graduate with degrees from UK. It come mean a shaky year 1 and year 2, but by year 3 he will have the kind of team that will put Kentucky first.
Hey Barry. You make a lot of really good points, but we are not winning championships if our best players are kids like Noah and Perry. I LOVE both of them and want them to be wildly successful. To win at the highest level at UK we need the 4 year kids, very good portal players and most importantly, elite players like Johnson, Lewis, Moreno and hopefully Wilson. As long as Pope is successful at UK, he will be getting at least 3-4 elite (top 20-40) players each class. He will also get his share of top 5-10 kids. We are simply not going to wins ships or even be successful in the SEC if Pope’s main goal is to go after kids that bleed blue and want to spend 4 years here and get a degree. Pope knows this and he also knows to keep his job he has to win and win big. To do this he will HAVE to get his share of the elite players. Go Cats!!!
If a team is good enough to win a Championship they will have NBA talent. If Johnson or Moreno are going to be 1st round picks after next year, they’re gone. Ask Reed Sheppard. Not even Ky kids bleed blue enough to turn down millions and I don’t blame them. Elite high school talent are not going to be loyal to any school. The day of playing for the name on front of the jersey is Over. I read a article that explained guys that are sure draft prospects don’t ask for big NIL deals. It’s the ones that know they have no chance that want the big pay check. It’s a me world and there is no going back.
What you noted makes sense Jimmy in today’s athletic world
Be patient guys, lord stuff doesn’t happen overnight. Pope will get it done in time.
We are all patient and nobody is the least bit upset with Pope. What he has done this year is remarkable and it is only going to get better. It is going to be a brutal SEC schedule and we could literally lose half our SEC games, and still make the dance. When Pope starts getting the elite players to go along with good portal players and 3-4 year players we are going to be scary good.You don’t have a ton of elite players but you must have at least 2-3. We were able to have success with the unforgetables with just 1 elite player, but Mashburn was the greatest player to ever play at UK. He drew so much attention that it freed up space for just about everybody. Go Cats!!!