Patriots' remarkable run started at schools, courts in Maryland

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George Mason's Cinderella story is a fairy tale written on the concrete basketball courts and in the high-school gyms of Maryland, where friends and family of the Patriot players are basking in the madness and magic of the team's NCAA tournament run.

"It's just a neat thing for the entire school and entire community," said Richard Hart, who coached Patriot starter Jai Lewis at Aberdeen High School. "It has people walking around, talking about it and sharing in the pride factor. It's a big thrill."

All five members of the starting lineup for Fairfax County's George Mason University basketball team -- Lamar Butler, Folarin Campbell, Tony Skinn, Will Thomas and Lewis -- grew up in Maryland.

In Fort Washington, a cracked and pock-marked asphalt basketball court sits behind a home where Butler grew up playing backyard games of football and basketball.

Inside, his proud parents yesterday displayed photos of their son, once an Oxon Hill Boys and Girls Club star and now a Sports Illustrated cover boy.

"It still hasn't hit us," said Butler's mother, Pamela, who works at the Department of Agriculture, a day after the Patriots beat Connecticut to make the Final Four. "I kept saying to myself, 'They beat UConn.' To have a son out there on one of those teams, it's unbelievable."

Butler's father, Lamar Sr., played basketball at Bowie State University and pushed all three of his sons to excel in sports and in life.

The "miracle" of his son's team playing in this weekend's Final Four is the result of hours of team and individual practice that have finally paid off, he said.

"It may sound crazy, but that's part of the plan," said Mr. Butler, who owns a Temple Hills sporting goods store. "You hope and you dream and pray for things like that. It's like a dream come true."

Butler's teammate in the backcourt, Skinn, is also heading to the Big Dance with lots of moral support -- his friends and family in Takoma Park and Rockville are backing him up in prayer, said his mother, Juliana Tubi.