FAIRFAX, Va. — The basketball commemorating George Mason’s run to the Final Four in 2006 is perched inside a modest trophy case near an obscure back entrance of the university’s basketball arena. Embossed with the score of the East Region final — George Mason 86, Connecticut 84 — the basketball is not all that easy to find in this sprawling suburban campus 20 miles from Washington, and hundreds of students pass it without notice each day.

But little at George Mason has been the same since that game, and it is likely that some, if not many, of the students striding past the arena had never heard of George Mason before 2006.

The 2006 team’s run through the NCAA tournament was led by an enchanting, spiritual coach, Jim Larranaga, who motivated his players to defeat a succession of college basketball Goliaths with corny slogans and pithy catchphrases.

Larranaga left George Mason two years ago, and with similar locker room pep talks — embellished this time with dance steps — he has his new team, Miami, once again within sight of the Final Four. Miami will play Marquette today in the East Region semifinals at Verizon Center in Washington, the same arena where Larranaga’s team upset Connecticut seven years ago.

Back at George Mason, off Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia, Larranaga may no longer be on campus to write inspirational mottos on the locker room walls, but his imprint is far from forgotten.

“The 2006 team was America’s darlings, and we told the George Mason story to the world,” athletic director Tom O’Connor said. “One of my other coaches tells the story that when his team used to check into a hotel on the road, he would say, ‘George Mason,’ and the desk clerk would answer, ‘I’m sorry; we don’t have a reservation for anyone by that name.’

“Now, he says the desk clerks know who George Mason is.”

Larranaga’s humble, homespun tactics amplified the Cinderella theme of that George Mason team’s run.

“We were the underdog that people said shouldn’t even be in the tournament,” Lamar Butler, one of the stars of the 2006 team, said in a telephone interview. “You can’t get any more disparaged than that. But we had some basic strengths, and coach had us ready. People thought we were small time, but they were wrong.”

With an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, the university was hardly small time, and its sudden basketball success became big business. The unexpected national exposure also became a boon for George Mason in several unforeseen ways.

In the first admissions cycle after the Final Four appearance, the number of out-of-state applications to George Mason rose by 54 percent, according to a report compiled by Robert E. Baker, the director of George Mason’s center for sports management. Visits to the admissions department’s website increased by 150 percent, and inquiries fielded by the office of admissions jumped 350 percent. The SAT scores and grade-point averages of incoming students also increased.

There was a 25 percent surge in the number of alumni who were considered active with the university’s alumni association. A $100 million fundraising campaign attracted $132 million in donations.

The George Mason bookstore took in more money in March 2006 ($800,000) than it did the entire rest of the year ($625,000). Enrollment in the annual summer basketball camp more than doubled. NCAA licensing revenue went up by $100,000.

At a news conference Wednesday at Verizon Center, Larranaga was asked if he had talked to his Miami players about the 2006 team and its stretch of upsets in the tournament. Larranaga was typically revealing and self-deprecating.

“To them, I’m kind of wacky, you know?” he said. “I say a lot of things to them, and initially they don’t understand. I use quotes and our thought of the day. I ask them to explain it, and they have no idea. I have to then educate them of what we’re trying to get across.”

Larranaga acknowledged that Verizon Center was, for him, a place of “incredible memories.”

But speaking about his Miami team, he added: “To them, it’s just another venue. They want to create those memories for themselves.”

Miami is not exactly the home team, but Larranaga will have his share of local support.

“I hope they win the whole thing,” O’Connor said. “Then when they tell Jim Larranaga’s story, they will always bring up George Mason. It’s always going to be there. It’s a great part of NCAA tournament history. In fact, it’s one of the great parts of college athletics.”

Matchups for today’s NCAA tourney games

Regional semifinals, times PDT

EAST REGION

At Washington, D.C.

No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 2 Miami, 4:15 p.m., CBS

Shane Larkin has been outstanding all year, but the Miami point guard has elevated his game in the postseason. His step back 3-pointer was the crucial basket in Miami’s round-of-32 victory over Illinois. Marquette is in the Sweet 16 after two escape acts, against Davidson and Butler. Bad news for the Hurricanes: center Reggie Johnson won’t play because of a knee injury. This game matches conference champions. The Golden Eagles shared the Big East regular-season title with Louisville and Georgetown. Miami won the ACC regular season and tournament.

No. 4 Syracuse vs. No. 1 Indiana, 6:45 p.m., CBS

The Hoosiers had trouble with Temple’s pace and now they get Syracuse’s zone. The Orange’s length figures to give Indiana problems. A great backcourt matchup pits the Hoosiers’ Victor Oladipo, widely considered the nation’s top perimeter defender, against Michael Carter-Williams. The teams met for the 1987 national championship — remember the Keith Smart jumper? The Hoosiers are on their fourth coach since then, while Jim Boeheim continues to lead Syracuse.e_SClB