Meet Boeheim’s Army: C.J. Fair
Daily Orange File Photo
C.J. Fair will go from the summer league to The Basketball Tournament to play for Boeheim's Army with several former teammates.
A group of former Syracuse men’s basketball players will get together for a chance at $2 million in the 2016 edition of The Basketball Tournament starting this Saturday. The team is fittingly named Boeheim’s Army, composed of former Purdue guard Willie Deane and nine former Orange that span a decade of Jim Boeheim’s tenure. Last year the squad bowed out in the Elite Eight against eventual champions City of Gods. This year, second-seeded Boeheim’s Army faces No. 15 seed Basketball City NYC at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Philadelphia University to begin its quest toward the cash prize. Follow along all week as we introduce you to the team’s players and coach ahead of the matchup.
C.J. Fair
C.J. Fair took a red-eye flight after his final summer league game Friday night to join Boeheim’s Army in Philadelphia for Saturday night’s opener, general manager Kevin Belbey told The Daily Orange on Thursday afternoon. Fair played in the Las Vegas Summer League for the Portland Trail Blazers and averaged eight points in his first four games.
Arguably the player on Boeheim’s Army with the most college accolades, Fair was named first-team All ACC in 2014 and received consensus All-American honors. He helped lead that SU team to a 25-0 start and the country’s No. 1 ranking, alongside freshman point guard Tyler Ennis, and averaged 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in his senior season. Fair finished his college career averaging 11.6 points per game and grabbing 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Fair went undrafted but has been a mainstay with the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers’ affiliate. The Mad Ants also have a team in this tournament but Boeheim’s Army reeled in Fair with his fellow Syracuse alumni to give them a versatile small forward who showed an ability to split the lane as well as hit from midrange during his SU career.
Meet Boeheim’s Army:
Published on July 16, 2016 at 10:29 am
Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman
