The Kentucky Wildcats have a rebuilt roster and a brand-new coaching staff as we enter a new era of Kentucky Basketball.

With Mark Pope leading the way, excitement is high as his first Kentucky team takes the floor in the coming months. They look to return the program to Final Four runs and hanging championship banners.

One of the coaches who will help him hopefully achieve those goals is UK assistant coach Jason Hart.

Hart, a former star at Syracuse, turned his success with the Orange into a successful nine-year NBA career and is now in the coaching ranks. For Kentucky, he focuses on working with the point guards on the roster, and with his career stats, there aren’t many names better to learn the game from.

That is why when he recently joined the Sources Say podcast and mentioned seeing some of himself in San Diego State transfer guard Lamont Butler, the BBN should take notice.

“Lamont Butler is a unique on-ball defender,” Hart said. “He has the ability to get into the passing lane and obviously take the ball from you while you’re dribbling. Defensively, he’s probably ahead of where I was, but I’ve seen myself in him in terms of the defensive side of the ball. He gets after it.”

Hart currently holds the record for most steals in Syracuse’s program history, so hearing Butler is ahead of where he was during his time in New York should be quite promising to the BBN.

Coming to Lexington, Butler’s defense has spoken for itself during his time at San Diego State, as he totaled 183 steals during his four seasons playing for the Aztecs. If he can bring those numbers to Lexington, you have to like where the point guard spot stands for Coach Pope and his staff this season.