The Wildcats have yet another target at defensive tackle.
Kentucky’s pursuit of interior defenders continued with an offer to Grand Valley State’s Jay’viar Suggs (6-foot-3, 282). He has picked up additional offers from Michigan State, Miami, Minnesota, Nebraska, Louisville, TCU, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas State and Arkansas.
Suggs joined the Lakers in 2019. He redshirted in 2019 and then the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID. The 2022 season brought his first extensive action. He recorded 21 tackles, including 7 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks and 5 pass deflections. As an encore performance in 2023, he registered 21 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
UK has pursued Rutgers defensive tackle Rene Konga and Stephen F. Austin defensive tackle Brandon Lane. The former committed to Michigan State yesterday and the latter chose Louisville Friday.
San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler commits to Kentucky
Butler helped lead San Diego State to the 2023 National Championship game.
Kentucky has landed a commitment from San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler.
His commitment comes after Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, associate head coach Alvin Brooks III and assistant coaches Jason Hart and Cody Fueger flew to Las Vegas to visit him Friday.
Butler, a 6-foot-2 guard from Moreno Valley, California, signed with San Diego State as a three-star point guard in 2020 ranked as the 38th best point guard prospect in the country and as the 27th best player in the state of California
As a true freshman during the 2020-21 season, he played in 28 games and made two starts. Averaging 12.4 minutes of playing time, he averaged 4.3 points per game with 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists helping the Aztecs win both the Mountain West regular season and tournament title.
During his sophomore campaign of 2021-22, Butler played in 27 games starting 25 in which he scored 7.3 points per game with 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He shot 39.6 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from three helping the Aztecs once again make the NCAA Tournament.
Butler played in all 39 games and started 38 for San Diego State as a junior, helping the Aztecs reach the National Championship Game. He averaged 8.8 points per game, 2.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 32.9 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three. In the Final Four, Butler sunk a buzzer-beating jumper to lead the Aztecs to a dramatic victory over FAU.
The season saw him earn 2023 NCAA All-Tournament Team, NCAA Tournament All-South Regional Team, Mountain West All-Defensive Team, Third-Team All-Mountain West, and Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year award honors.
This past season, Butler started all 37 games for the Aztecs and scored a career-high 9.3 points per game while adding 2.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 42.1 percent from the field, 30.2 percent from three and 59.4 percent from the free throw line.
Butler earned Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors for a second straight season, helped lead the Aztecs back to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, was an All-Mountain West Defensive Team selection and earned conference honorable mentions.
The 6-foot-2 guard is Kentucky’s second transfer portal commit of the offseason joining Drexel forward Amari Williams.
Pope’s debut roster now has four players lined up with Butler, Williams and incoming freshmen Collin Chandler and Travis Perry on board.
UK is set to welcome multiple visitors to Lexington this weekend and into Monday, with the list set to include Utah guard Deivon Smith, Wake Forest forward Andrew Carr, Stanford guard Andrej Stojakovic and Saint Mary’s Aidan Mahaney. Oklahoma forward Otega Oweh was on campus for a visit Thursday and has received a crystal ball from the Cats’ Pause Chris Fisher to land at Kentucky.
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