Lamont Butler Chooses IU, Adding Star Power to Indiana Hoosiers 2024 Class….

The clock was winding down. With 17.5 seconds standing between the San Diego State men’s basketball team and victory, time was its biggest adversary.

The Aztecs clawed their way back from a 14-point deficit in the second half against Florida Atlantic and were now one play away from making history as the first San Diego State team to make it to the NCAA tournament championship game.

The competitive stakes were at an all-time high, and the fate of the game fell on one player: senior point guard Lamont Butler.

One by one, the seconds disappeared. Butler, who hails from Riverside, remained steadfast. With two seconds remaining and down one, he pulled up for a 15-footer he’s shot a million times and sent the Aztecs to the championship with a 72-71 win.

“When it left my hand it felt good,” he said. “The energy was crazy, it kind of felt like a dream,” said Butler.

Though the Aztecs fell to UConn in the title game, Butler and his teammates have a shot at redemption when they face the Huskies again Thursday for a spot in the Elite Eight.

The teams will play in Boston, which is essentially a home game for UConn.

While Butler’s moment of greatness is cemented in history, he remains anonymous to many. Having overcome personal adversity, Butler’s commitment to endless basketball drills and a little Rubik’s Cube prepared him for his last NCAA tournament run.

From the beginning of the year, we felt we had that team that could make it to the March Madness and eventually make it to the Final Four in the national championship game,” said Butler. “That’s a goal that we set out from the jump. As the year went on, we have become more cohesive and more connected and just ready for our opponents.”

A family game

Growing up in Riverside, Butler watched his three older sisters, whom he refers to as “the three moms in his life,” play the game he loves.

“My family is everything to me,” said Butler. “Even in high school, middle school, AAU games, there were always five or six people sitting on the sideline.”

In the middle of Butler’s sophomore season at San Diego State, the voice of one fan was silenced.

Asasha Hall, the youngest of Butler’s “three moms,” was shot and killed in her home by a 24-year-old relative who lived with Hall, her husband and their children.

“She’d go to every home game. She was one of the loudest ones at the games and she was always a big supporter of me,” Butler said. “I love her to death. And hearing that news is always tough. So going through the season, it was kind of hard to battle back from that. But I felt like having my family, having my teammates and coaches that kind of helped me get through that in a great way. And I was able to get through that year and then the next year I just tried to go all in for her.”