Darr Beiser, USA TODAY Sports
The day Lamont Butler found out he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated during George Mason’s Cinderella run in the 2006 NCAA tournament, he was too focused on finishing his shooting practice — after the team’s practice — to really take in the moment immediately despite his coach’s urging.
“I just remember Coach Larranaga saying ‘oh my god,’” he said. “I continued to work and Coach Larranaga said ‘Lamar you got to come see this.’”
That was a photo that now hangs in Butler’s sports shop in suburban Maryland, a picture of him shouting in happiness after George Mason upset North Carolina to make it into the Sweet 16. It was a game that put George Mason on the path of being the first modern-day Final Four Cinderella team in the NCAA tournament, which Butler said no one really appreciated on the team at the time. “We started out with a chip on our shoulder from the Selection Show, people were saying we didn’t deserve to be in it. Looking back we had a lot of mentally strong guys who were going to fight — that team was just special. I’ve never been on a team that mentally tough,” he said.
H. Darr Beiser / USA TODAY
George Mason, after making a splash with its initial upset of Michigan State and North Carolina to find their way into the Sweet 16, along with other mid-major schools Wichita State (sound familiar?), Bradley and Gonzaga, which at the time was the historically strongest of the mid-majors. But then, they knocked off Wichita State and finally UConn to make it into the Final Four.
Perhaps, Butler said, it was because everything still was going on in the world like things outside the tournament was normal.
“After we beat UConn I went back to my room and I had to study for a test,” Butler said, adding that he ended up emailing the professor to explain the situation. Eight years later, he doesn’t believe he did great on that one.
Cinderella’s slipper fell off against Florida, the team that would eventually go on to win the first of two-straight titles with Joakim Noah and Billy Donovan. And when Butler got back to campus, the madness continued. Agents called at all hours of the night. There were offers to do commercials. Because the team had managed so well to keep their concentration during the tournament, the true madness of March didn’t really hit until the players were on campus again.
“Real life smacked us in the face,” he said.
Butler, who ended up playing in the NBA D-League and overseas, said the team still keeps in touch.
“Mainly when my teammates and I talk about how we competed, we talk about the toughness,” he said. “That was a very scrappy team. It’s not like we were the biggest team at all — the fight in the team, it was crazy. Guys literally fought sometimes in practice — we fought as a team on and off the court. And we genuinely love each other and it shows on the court.”
His moment may be over, but Butler said he does watch the tournament every year.
After all: “No matter how many times the experts try, you can’t predict it,” he said. “It’s one shot.”
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