Mark Pope Delivers Promising Update on Lamont Butler While Another Kentucky Star Remains Away From Court

Kentucky season has been a rollercoaster ride. Big wins followed by tough losses and a thin roster stretched too thin by injuries. Mark Pope has had to shuffle lineups, lean on younger players, and adjust on the fly. One of the biggest question marks? Lamont Butler. The Wildcats need that experience and grit on defense. But his return remains uncertain.

Tristan Pharis highlighted the news through a tweet,” Mark Pope on Lamont Butler: “We would like to get him back in a position where we have the best chance of not having another setback… He is going to be on the court in a non-contact situation today, and we will see how that feels.” While Butler’s progress is encouraging, another Kentucky star remains absent from the court, leaving fans speculating about their return.

This is the most concrete update on Butler’s status since the injury sidelined him. It’s clear Pope is taking a cautious approach. The fifth-year guard’s absence has been felt deeply, especially during Kentucky’s recent back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Ole Miss. Butler’s averages of 13.2 points, 4.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. This highlights his importance to the team’s success on both ends of the floor.Pope emphasized that the decision-making process is fluid, with the team gathering data daily to determine the next steps. “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,” he said. The goal is to avoid rushing Butler back and risking a setback. A strategy Pope successfully employed with Andrew Carr’s recent back injury. Carr has been regaining his shape, playing 23 minutes against Ole Miss, and Pope wants to revert to something similar to Butler.

While Pope isn’t rushing the process, the fact that Butler is back on the court. Even in a limited role, suggests he’s on track to return sooner rather than later. For now, Kentucky fans can take solace in the fact that Butler is moving in the right direction. Whenever it happens, his comeback could be the turning point the Wildcats need as they push through the second half of the season.

Mark Pope provides a detailed update on Kerr Kriisa’s lingering injury status

While Butler is edging closer towards returning, another Kentucky guard remains in limbo. Pope gave the first really detailed update in weeks on Kerr Kriisa’s status, and it doesn’t sound like he’s anywhere near playing game action.

Mark Pope on Kerr Kriisa through a tweet highlights, “He’s not doing much of anything active on the court yet but is doing much more active stuff in the weight room. the next step is to see what the response is and how quickly/if he can get over the soreness.”

Kriisa suffered a foot injury back on Dec. 7 versus Gonzaga and has undergone surgery since then. Initially, he might have been in line to return about six weeks later but now saw that time more than double without his ability to do much basketball activity in reality. Of course the problem isn’t only soreness but healing of bone which time will tell.