James Lott, in the red spandex, cheers along with other members of Club Red during a game in 2013. DM Photo | Thomas Graning
Walking into the Tad Pad on the campus of Ole Miss has not been the same since James Lott arrived in 2012, determined to leave his mark as he did in high school. Fans and visitors are bound to see Lott as a red or blue spandex-covered figure in the student section cheering the team on at almost every men’s basketball game.
“If you’ve seen a guy ever wear a red or blue spandex suit and he’s really big, that’s me,” Lott said. “The full head cover and everything.”
What started out as his plan to be popular in high school ended up making him a legend at Ole Miss college basketball games. Lott has worn the spandex morph suit, that he bought online for about 40 dollars, to every basketball game after getting tired of the body paint that he used at the start of the season his freshman year. Occasionally, Lott’s pledge brothers will paint their bodies in support of his spirit, but Lott wears his suit faithfully.
Fellow fan Stephen Shepard, was one of the students who participated in bringing spirit to the Ole Miss Basketball games.
“He is definitely a true rebel fan,” Shepard said. “People always asked whether or not we were coming to the games.”
Lott chose basketball because he revels in the excitement that he gets from being so close to the action.
“With football, we are more accustomed to wearing a suit and tie with khaki pants on game days, whereas with basketball we’re more inclined to get a little crazier,” Lott said. “Basketball is just a closer environment that’s inside and it’s a more intimate feeling because you’re really close to the action. Whereas in baseball and football you’re a good distance away and you can’t really change the aspect of the game.”
Lott has made himself so well known that the Ole Miss athletics department wanted to have him in their commercial.
“I love Ole Miss basketball,” Lott said. “I still keep in contact with Murphy Holloway and I actually did a commercial with him like a year and a half ago for one of the basketball games.”
Lott got in contact with athletics through his Twitter account where his handle is @RebelSpandexGuy.
“Almost two years ago, Micah sent me an email saying, ‘Hey, my name is Micah and I work for Ole Miss basketball, and I would just like to see if you wanted to do a commercial with us,’” Lott said. “I chose Murphy Holloway because I felt like we seemed to work together pretty well.”
The commercial was intended to get Rebel fans excited about the Missouri game and later landed him a spot in a national SEC commercial.
“The commercial is a Saturday Night Live type sketch,” Lott said. “A 15-30 second time where they would introduce me as the special guest: Spandex Guy.”
Most people have come to know Lott because of his hype videos.
One video by the SEC Network featured Lott in his suit as a representation of the Rebels.
“It’s short, like literally if you blink you miss it,” Lott said. “SEC had to get all 14 schools in one commercial, some stand out more than others because they’ve been doing it for a longer time than me, like the guy from Alabama that had a sign of his face at the free throw line.”
South loves the impact Lott has on the fans during the best and worst games.
“I have seen his spandex suit impact a crowd in a lot of ways,” said Rebecca South, Lott’s girlfriend of two years. “Many people are curious who is under the suit, but to much surprise it’s just a teddy bear who lives and breathes Rebel sports. He can pump the crowd up, just showing up, or maybe even distract the opposing team by a belly show. He has truly become the Rebel Spandex Guy.”
Lott’s time in the Tad Pad was the result of a decision he made in high school.
During his sophomore year, Lott made the decision to quit football and get a job after feeling a little pressure from his family and a decrease in his GPA.
“My dad told me I was going to have to stand for myself and do real work,” Lott said.
Lott’s school at the time didn’t have a mascot, so with his spare time he decided the school spirit needed a drastic change.
“I decided I was going to do something to stand out and get the crowd motivated,” Lott said.
The small spirit squad of fans went from three, to five, to ten. Before they knew it, they had rallied more than 200 students to travel to the state championship game in support of the volleyball team.
Lott’s GPA had also gone up just as he was rising to fame as the unofficial mascot.
After great success starting a spirit squad in high school to creating an enthusiastic student section for Ole Miss basketball, Lott says the time has come to hang up the suit.
“I just want to be the guy that people are inspired by,” Lott said.
Lott said the suit has opened many doors for him. It even influenced him to change his major from accounting to journalism.
“I have been in a commercial, I have met the girl that I am intending to marry one day, I have lifelong friends, and I now have a job with Ole Miss Athletics that would have never been possible. I help out with camera; I’m the tech guy. It’s crazy how a piece of fabric, like spandex, could change my life forever.”
Although “The Spandex Guy” will no longer reside in the stands at the Tad Pad on gamedays he can still be found on Twitter supporting his Rebels.
