SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — “While everyone was jumping, I sat down and I cried,” said Carmicha Butler, Lamont's mom.
It was a moment that will go down in San Diego history. Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beating shot that sent the Aztecs to the N.C.A.A. men’s championship game.
“I just cried because it was him time to shine and that’s what he did,” Carmicha said.
His mom, dad, and 25 other friends and family members traveled from Los Angeles to Houston to cheer him on, that includes his high school basketball coach, Justin Downer.
“You see a lot of kids born to play basketball but that wasn’t Lamont, that’s all work," Downer said. "A lot late nights, a lot of tears, a lot of failures, people telling him what he can’t do.”
Now, Lamont has the training and the composure to make crucial shots. He also made a 3-point buzzer-beater for SDSU to win the Mountain West Conference.
“What he is on the inside is what makes Lamont a champion," said Lamont Butler Sr., Lamont's dad. "He would’ve rather his teammate make that shot than him.”
“He had three sisters, we’re all rah, rah but not him, he’s a quiet storm, I like to call him,” Carmicha said.
One of Lamont’s biggest supporters couldn't be there to cheer him on. His sister, Asasha Hall, was shot and killed in her California home last year. But his family says she’s been watching over him.
“Heaven has a lot of Aztecs fans," Carmicha said. "I guarantee you that.”
