New Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope coached his first game Wednesday night as the Wildcats took on Kentucky Wesleyan in an exhibition matchup. Kentucky easily took care of business as they cruised to a 123-52 win. The competition wasn’t very difficult, but the Wildcats played how you would expect them to.
One player that Mark Pope was especially happy with on Wednesday was Lamont Butler. Butler was especially excelling on the defensive end, and Pope compared him to Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders.
“At some point during the game – and it was the right decision. You know, Drew chose to work a lot of four, five ball screens because it’s kind of like you have this Deion Sanders-corner,” Pope said after the game, according to an article from On3. “You’re like, ‘We’re not throwing that side of the field anymore’. Forget it. We’re just not going over there. That’s the type of impact that Lamont can have.”
That was just the beginning of the praise that Pope had for Lamont Butler. He went on to say that he is the best defensive perimeter player in college basketball.
“You know, he’s a special player,” Pope said. “I’ve never coached a guy like him on the defensive end at the point of attack. He’s incredibly special. I think he’s – you guys have heard me say it a hundred times. I think he’s the best defensive perimeter player in college basketball. Certainly the best defensive point guard.”
Butler finished the game with 11 points on 5-8 shooting, and he added six rebounds, six assists and six steals. Pope wouldn’t mind seeing six steals in every game this year.
“Yeah, so, I mean, I expect him to have six steals every single night,” Pope said with a smile. “I’ve never seen – Guys, I’m old. I mean, I’m older than everybody in this room, I think…But I’ve never seen this number. So, Lamont Butler had more steals than our whole team had turnovers tonight. I’ve never seen that actually. That’s really incredible.”
Lamont Butler shut down Kentucky Wesleyan’s best player
Kentucky Wesleyan’s best player is Kennedy Miles, and that is who Mark Pope wanted Lamont Butler to be guarding. Lamont shut him down as Miles finished with just 10 points on 30% shooting. Kentucky Wesleyan eventually had to change up their offensive strategy because of Butler.
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“Listen, I’m telling you. This Kennedy Miles is a terrific basketball player,” Pope said. “Kennedy Miles is a terrific basketball player. He’s a championship team-leading point guard. He’s a terrific basketball player. He didn’t have his best night tonight but Lamont Butler had a lot to do with that. Like, it gets hard.”
This was just an exhibition game, but Pope is really liking what he is seeing from Butler so far.
“I thought he was terrific tonight,” Pope added. “I’m telling you, it’s a gift to have a player like that that you can just lean on as a coach. He’s really special.”
That game was a good start for Mark Pope, but the regular season is obviously when things really begin. Kentucky will start their regular season on November 4th at home against Wright State.