The phone calls last spring about a possible transfer kept George Mason women's basketball coach Nyla Milleson feeling like things might be too good to be true. Like maybe she was about to win the lottery.

   By the end of April, it was official that 6-foot-5 Natalie Butler, a reserve post player for powerhouse Connecticut, was headed home to play her final collegiate season for the Patriots.

   "I won't use the exact words I used," Milleson said with a laugh when asked her reaction to the transfer, "but I was going, 'Oh my gosh, how exciting is this? … It couldn't have been a more perfect fit for us."

   It was also a great fit for Butler, who starred in high school at Lake Braddock, was Big East Freshman of the Year at Georgetown in 2013-14 and then transferred to UConn. During her three seasons (she sat out a year due to NCAA transfer rules and played the last two) at UConn, the Huskies won two of their 11 national titles under coach Geno Auriemma and appeared in three Final Fours.

   A communications major, Butler graduated from UConn last spring but wasn't sure of her plans. She figured to be a reserve for the Huskies.

   "I wasn't sure I was even going to play another season; I wanted to get started on my master's," said Butler, who is in the Global Affairs program and is fluent in German. "Now I get to play and I'm in the master's program I wanted. It's a dream come true."

  Butler and some promising freshmen, including guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, have sparked the Patriots (9-2) to their best start in 25 years, heading into tonight's home game at 7 against UMBC.

   Butler leads the nation with 10 double-doubles, averaging 18.1 points and 13.7 rebounds. She provides what the Patriots lacked in Milleson's four previous seasons when the Patriots were often punished inside. Now they have a dominant post player.
    "She is everything the doctor ordered," Milleson said.

   During the last two years at UConn, Butler played 63 games off the bench, averaging 5.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg in less than 15 minutes a game. But after her Connecticut experience as a reserve, Butler, had to get reacquainted with playing major minutes and putting up big numbers as she did in high school and at Georgetown, where she averaged 13.9 points and 13.4 rebounds four years ago.

   "I thought we had to maybe reprogram her a little bit," Milleson said. "We told her we need her to be a scorer. Her first instincts were to pass. She's not getting doubled quite as hard as she was early. She's a great passer.

   "But if she's down there one-on-one or has two feet in the paint, she's got to score. There are still times we have to say, 'Nat, demand the basketball and score.'"

   Butler has a complete package of low post moves and can hit outside shots. She also fires strong outlet passes, runs the floor well and is a defensive force. "She's solid and she keeps it simple," says assistant coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba, a former post player at GW and the 1997 A-10 Player of the year. "She's very unselfish. She's constantly looking to get her teammates involved.  That's so unique.

   "Coming in here, she could have taken the it's-all-about-me role but she doesn't. She's unselfish, she's a great leader."

    Butler's leadership was on display in last week's 73-70 overtime win against LIU Brooklyn. The Patriots, up 16 points in the third quarter, were down two with 29 seconds left in regulation. On the court and during timeout huddles, Butler remained positive, encouraging teammates, never displaying discouragement or poor body language.

   It provides a great example for a young team that has seven newcomers this season.

   "I could tell from what kind of person she is and from her being in the UConn culture the last couple of years that she was going to help us from the leadership standpoint and from an understanding what it takes to win standpoint," Milleson said. "That's been a real positive."
   In three years at UConn, Butler was part of a team that won the 2015 title in her redshirt year, repeated in 2016 with her as a sub and lost in the semifinals last year. The Huskies went 112-2 during her affiliation with the program. Not that she flashes her championship ring or regales teammates with UConn stories.

   "She's very humble about who she is," says sophomore Jacy Bolton, a tri-captain along with Butler and senior Tayler Dodson. "You can see it in her work ethic. Every day she comes in really motivated. Her maturity for a young team that we are is what she brings to the table."
   During her years at UConn, Butler was exposed to a culture of winning. She soaked it up.

   "It definitely was a great experience to play against some of the best players in the country whether they were on your team or opponents," Butler said. "I learned a lot about the game. Coach (Geno) Auriemma is just a really smart guy. Xs and Os and things like that, I picked up on a lot of that. And conditioning too. They go at a different pace. They've been doing that the last 30 years. There's a reason they're winning national championships.

   "That being said, Coach Milleson and Coach Ngnonba and the staff here should get a lot of credit, with the amount of work we put in during the summer, doing extra conditioning, getting it the weight room and working on skill development. Coach Ngongba has taught me a lot, getting to the basket and finishing with contact. That really helped build confidence for the season. A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff here."

  Butler's father, Vernon, gets credit from his daughter, too. He was a 6-foot-9 post player at Navy, teaming with future NBA star David Robinson, to get the Middies to the Elite Eight in 1986.
   "He's been a huge influence in my life," Butler said.

   Butler would love to play professionally next year, either in the WNBA or overseas. There's a backup plan if that doesn't work out, getting into international consulting.

   But for now, her basketball odyssey continues. She left Georgetown after having three head coaches in her freshman year. UConn contacted her after hearing she was transferring.

  "I never advertised myself, and I never expected to go there," Butler says. "It was a great experience."

   Now she is back home. After games at EagleBank Arena, Butler makes her way through a receiving line of family, relatives and friends.   

"It's pretty cool: My family is in the stands, but my family is also on the court," Butler says. "So it's like I feel supported everywhere I turn. It's something I haven't felt before. It's great to have it senior year."