SAN DIEGO — San Diego State University basketball star Lamont Butler was honored Wednesday afternoon for his achievements on-and-off the court during the offseason.

The People’s Association of Justice Advocates recognized Lamont for his buzzer-beater winning shot on April 1 that sent SDSU to its first men’s basketball national championship game. The Aztecs beat Florida Atlantic in the Final Four. It’s a shot that arguably is the most memorable in SDSU history, and one of the most memorable in San Diego sports.

Lamont was given a “key to the movement” by The People’s Association of Justice Advocates for the buzzer-beater shot, and for his new nonprofit foundation he’s started in the offseason.

”It was really dope to be honored and be a staple in the community,” Butler said. “It means a lot, it means a lot, I’m always looking to help people, and to get this key for people to know that I’m out there to help.” 

“San Diego, we are going to do everything we can to honor our hometown hero,” said Shane Harris, founder of the The People’s Association of Justice.

Butler launched a foundation, The Butler Did It Foundation, focusing on empowering youth’s lives, and helping underprivileged kids achieve their dreams, from San Diego to his hometown in Moreno Valley.

The Butler Did It Foundation has goals of funding children’s dreams. Butler said he remembers friends not being able to play basketball as kids because they couldn’t afford it, and his foundation wants to ensure that doesn’t happen, and that finances don’t get in the way of a child’s dream.

“Me and my family, we just started it to help younger kids who struggle financially to go out there and achieve their dreams as I did,” Butler added.

“It’s not often kids at this age envision and see what he wants to do on-and-off the court,” Butler’s dad Lamont Butler Sr. said. “But this is really my hero.”

As Butler is getting his foundation up and running, he is also gearing up for his senior season.

“I’m real excited for next year, just finished our summer workouts, team’s looking really good,” he added.

He had declared for the NBA draft, but ultimately decided this spring to return to SDSU.

“I’m glad I decided to come back, trying to get better from last year and improve on what I need to,” he said. “Try to make it to national championship game”