Syracuse, N.Y. — The 14 names ahead of her now are, mostly, among the best who have ever played.
Dyaisha Fair scored her 3,000th point as a Division I women’s basketball player on Sunday, becoming the 16th player to reach that milestone. The four players directly ahead of her on the career scoring list are Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne.
Yet the 5-foot-5 point guard admits she hasn’t done a good job enjoying the journey or appreciating her rise from unwanted recruit to one of the elite scorers in the sport.
It took a message from her pastor to convince her to try to enjoy her moment. And it took a game-winning layup to make it happen on Sunday afternoon.
“We play on Sundays and that means I can’t go to church because I’m playing,” said Fair, who listens to gospel music before each game. “I went to church (over Christmas break) and my pastor told me that success sometimes gets lonely, and that no matter what it’s OK to pat yourself on the back and to celebrate yourself.”
She started to tear up. She struggled for words.
“I needed that,” she finished.
The message was delivered by Pastor James Hartsfield of Rochester’s Miracle Valley Deliverance Church.
And fortunately for Fair, she had plenty of help celebrating on Sunday.
The 2,742 fans in the JMA Wireless Dome provided Fair a standing ovation when she knocked down a free throw with 5:02 remaining, recording the 3,000th point of her college career during an 83-82 win over Clemson.
The Syracuse fans celebrate Syracuse Orange guard Dyaisha Fair (2) 3000th point on the Clemson game. The Syracuse Orange Women’s basketball team takes on the Clemson Tigers, Jan. 14, 2024 at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse N.Y. ( Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse,com )dnett@syracuse.com
None of them were happier than her parents, sitting behind the SU bench and wearing clothing with mom and dad stamped on them.
Her coach, Felisha Legette-Jack, called coaching her a blessing.
And teammate Alyssa Latham converted her pass into a game-winning layup with 7.9 seconds remaining, the last thing Fair needed to be happy about all of it.
“Dyaisha can’t get 3,000 points and we not win,” said Georgia Woolley, who played with Fair at both Buffalo and Syracuse. “I think everyone was sort of like, ‘OK, Come on.’ ”
Fair finished with 21 points, boosting her career total to 3,007. She passed Maine’s Cindy Blodgett to take 15th all-time. Up next is Miller, a star at Southern California and an Olympic gold medalist, with 3,018.
The Orange followed Fair’s lead on Sunday, for worse and better.
They felt the pressure early. They refused to surrender. They came up big when it mattered most.
Fair opened the game with a missed 3-pointer on the first possession. Clemson turned it into a fastbreak and a four-point trip.
Fair missed seven of her first eight shots. She got gun-shy. Syracuse fell behind by 19 points in the second half.
Legette-Jack pulled her star just before halftime to deliver a message. If Fair stopped shooting, she was going to come out again in the second half.
“She is different. She is special. She is one of the best players to play the game,” Legette-Jack said. “To be able to witness this on a daily basis, I don’t know why He chose me, but I must have done something pretty good.”
Shatara Fair sent her daughter a text message to read at halftime in the locker room, a family tradition.
It read: “Relax. Get out of your head. You got this. Let’s finish strong. Pack ‘em up. You know you can.”
The message sunk in late in the third. Fair knocked down a 3-pointer just before the quarter expired. She looked down at the floor. She dropped her head. She exhaled.
No celebration yet. That would come later. This was relief.
“When I hit that shot it allowed me to drop my shoulders,” Fair said. “I got a little tense in the first half. When that shot went down it just allowed me to breathe.”
It gave Fair seven points. And over the final 10 minutes, she’d triple it.
She scored 14 points in the fourth to spark the comeback and, once it was over, she could begin to celebrate. She listened to coaches and teammates praise her. She took pictures with supporters.
Legette-Jack recalled recruiting Fair three times over the past seven years.
The first time, Legette-Jack said, no one recognized future greatness in a 5-foot-4 guard who was displaying quickness, ferocity and tenacity on the AAU circuit.
“I think it was Rochester Insitute (of Technology) and us,” Legette-Jack said. “There was a call from big-name schools one or two times but no one stayed in the race. ... It was shocking. There was no one on her court watching her. I was like, ‘Am I dreaming this?’ ... I kept looking at Coach (Kristen) Sharkey and we would just giggle, ‘We’re going to win the (Mid-American Conference) championship again.”
Fair ended up at Buffalo with Legette-Jack by default.
Then she thrived from the first moment, averaging 22 points as a true freshman.
She helped the Bulls to two NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons and, after the third, Legette-Jack recalled telling her it was time to play somewhere else.
Then Legette-Jack was hired somewhere else. Brought on by Syracuse as the full-time replacement for Quentin Hillsman, she had the platform her star needed. This time, there was competition.
“I remember telling her that you can’t stay here another year,” Legette-Jack said. “You have to go. This is your last year, possibly playing for me. ... Then we got the job and it was like, ‘Oh yeah, we got it. Get in the car. It’s time to go.’ ”
Fair proved she could excel on an ACC stage with Syracuse last year. The potential of professional basketball or getting paid by the most rabid fan bases in the country loomed. This time, Legette-Jack had to hope a financial arrangement could be put together so that it made sense for Fair to remain at SU.
“Whatever we’re giving her (in NIL) is clearly not enough,” Legette-Jack said, “because this young lady is incredible.”
So was Sunday, for those in attendance and for Fair.
She passed an unthinkable milestone. She led her team on a comeback made for the movies. And she remembered, amidst all of that, to take a moment to celebrate herself.
“Before getting to this level everyone doubted me,” Fair said. “Everyone doubted my size. Everyone doubted me. Entirely. Because of how small I am. ... I’ve been told just recently that I need to start to celebrate myself. That’s what I’m going to do.”
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