C.J. Fair has made one 3-pointer in his college career. He has attempted three. In a college basketball age in which teams and athletic 6-foot-8 wings like Fair live and die by the 3, no statistic speaks to his game more.

And no single play from this season better provides paradox to Fair’s game. With the 3 against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27, the selfless freshman became selfish for once. Still, Fair’s sampling in selfishness showcased his mentality, which is rare in freshmen. The mentality and resolve to do the proper thing and be in the right spot at the right time.

If there was one 3 Fair should have taken all year, this was it. The Georgia Tech defenders sagged off Fair, and the freshman drilled the shot to give SU a two-point lead.

As the first-half buzzer sounded, he held his shooting arm in the air, almost posing, as the snapshot validated the credence of Fair, again, doing what SU needed. Even if this play was the polar opposite to almost all of the others Fair has made all season.

That is because Fair is the garbageman with an aesthetically pleasing grace to his game. An efficient game in which Fair never takes a bad shot. He is shooting 55 percent on the year.

And with SU head coach Jim Boeheim trusting Fair more and more game to game, Fair has excelled, averaging 12 points and 36 minutes in SU’s last three games.

‘I’m just proving to my coach I should be out there,’ Fair said after SU’s 84-80 overtime win over Rutgers on Saturday. ‘And he is sticking with me.’

With three games left, SU’s season depends on Fair. It’ll either be pedestrian NCAA Tournament team or Final Four contender. And it hinges on Fair because, with his recent play, he has enabled Syracuse to re-enter the national discussion. SU has reached a new level of playing and style because Fair opens things up for everyone.

He knows his role. He recites the same rhetoric after every game. It doesn’t start with him. It starts with others. Just ask Fair himself about a certain kind of play. He’ll tell you.

‘Rick Jackson, he gets attention,’ Fair said Saturday when speaking of one of his own second-half layups. ‘He is on the low post. I just try to make myself unguardable, especially when other people drive. I look for the offensive rebound. It is about being aware of where the shooters are.’

Fair is the player SU guard Brandon Triche compares to Wes Johnson, fused with Kristof Ongenaet’s penchant to sacrifice.

The latest example of that came with Fair’s 17-point outing in SU’s win over Rutgers on Saturday. The first came with the 3 in late November.

With the Georgia Tech bench screaming, ‘He’s a driver! He’s a driver!’ Fair became selfish for the first time all season. His 3-point attempt shocked SU head coach Jim Boeheim in the title game of the Legends Classic in Atlantic City.

With the 3, Fair forecasted exactly what he provides. It came 22 games before Boeheim said Saturday that Fair has separated himself as the prime contributor of the Orange’s once-lauded freshman class.

‘I don’t think there is any question about that,’ Boeheim said.

Now heading into the season’s stretch run, Fair is the crucial cog in the Syracuse lineup. He is the versatile rookie sixth man, bringing what no other Syracuse player can — a duality of selflessness and scorer. That duality was on display once again in SU’s win Saturday.

There was his block on Rutgers’ leading scorer Jonathan Mitchell in the first half. There were his weak-side rebounds, including one at the end of regulation to sew up overtime. And there were a bevy of short-range shots. Just pick one of the six he made. He only took eight.

And when you couple those instincts with the ‘bouncy’ Wes Johnson-like element of Fair’s game that Triche speaks about, you get a player SU can’t play without. Even if he doesn’t start or take another 3 all year.

Fair is vital after going from daring rookie in November to necessary contributor as March nears.

‘That is the type of player we need,’ Triche said. ‘Someone like him, we need one guy like him.’

Tony Olivero is the development editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at aolivero@syr.edu

Published on February 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm