NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Maryland of last decade
By Joey Loose
7. C. J. Fair – Syracuse
A 6’8 forward originally from Baltimore, Fair spent his final high school season starring in New Hampshire before making his way to Syracuse. Fair arrived in 2010 and played under Jim Boeheim for the next four seasons. A fringe top 100 prospect in the 2010 class, Fair was mostly a bench player at the beginning of his career but developed into one of the best frontcourt pieces in the entire nation.
He made decent contributions in his first two seasons, not becoming a starter until late in his sophomore season. He did score 15 points in a Sweet Sixteen win over Wisconsin as a sophomore, and was important in Syracuse’s run to the Final Four in 2013, scoring 22 points in their loss to Michigan. He then averaged 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a senior in the Orange’s first season in the ACC.
He had a pretty successful run of NCAA Tournament performances with the Orange and was named All-ACC First Team in that senior campaign. He was also a Second Team All-American who landed on conference leaderboards in both the Big East and ACC. After an impressive end to his collegiate career, Fair has found himself playing professionally, with a few seasons in the G-League and a few overseas.