MARIN COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — Marin City may be hundreds of miles from San Diego, but they’re rooting for San Diego State to win the Division I men’s basketball championship. Starting guard Darrion Trammell grew up in Marin County.
His friends and family have been gathering to cheer him on in Houston for the Final Four. A watch party Saturday afternoon was held as the Aztecs beat Florida Atlantic University to advance to Monday’s national championship.
The room erupted in cheers after Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beater to send the Aztecs to the NCAA national championship game. Watch the reaction from the watch party below.
Everyone at the watch party says the whole community is so happy and proud of Trammell no matter what. When SDSU won its Final Four matchup, the energy was electric.
It’s the first time SDSU will be in the big game, and one of its starting guards is from Marin County.
Trammell is from Marin City and went to St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco. Ladana Gibson says her son grew up with Trammell.
She spent the afternoon cheering him on.
The room full of people at Marin City Community Services in Sausalito felt every basket — along with every miss. SDSU battled its way back from a 14-point deficit.
“The energy in the room…it was tense. It was palpable,” said Trammell family friend Kevin Douglas.
He says they want to see Trammell succeed.
“Nobody has ever went this far from this community,” Douglas said. “We’re just lost for words. You can see the energy in the room today. Everyone is just happy for him.”
And Douglas says it wasn’t easy for Trammell.
“He’s a quiet young man. He was told that he was too small and was a liability,” Douglas said. “He just quietly worked. None of the Division 1 schools recruited him.”
KRON On is streaming news live now
At 5-foot-10, he is the shortest player on SDSU’s roster and played his freshman year at City College of San Francisco.
He then transferred to Seattle University before transferring again to SDSU. After all that, on Monday night, he will be playing for a Division I NCAA national championship.
There will be another watch party in Marin to support Trammell and the Aztecs Monday night for the championship.
